First Light: An Alternative to Breaking Dawn
by Tranquillity Jones
Summary: This is an alternative version of Breaking Dawn, picking up straight after the conclusion of Eclipse.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I did not create the characters utilised in this fiction. They and the Twilight series are the creation of Stephanie Meyer and they are used purely for entertainment purposes.

**Summery**: This is an alternative version of Breaking Dawn, picking up straight after the conclusion of Eclipse.

**Explanation**: I hated _Breaking Dawn_. I don't think I have ever disliked or been more disappointed in a book in my entire life. I hated it because it was (in my opinion) a horrendous conclusion to what had been, to that point, a wonderful, engaging series of books. I loved _Twilight_, _New Moon_ and _Eclipse_ but they, for me, were utterly ruined by _Breaking Dawn_. For this ending I got invested in the series? What a waste of time! Consequently, I lost all ongoing interest in anything to do with the books – including the then forthcoming film version of Twilight. Wasn't interested, wasn't going to see it.

But…

A friend dragged me along to the movie – she had only just read Twilight and was interested in seeing the film, she didn't want to go alone so off I went. Well, to cut a long story short – I loved it. I mean I really, really loved it. Saw it forty-two times at the cinema loved it (no, I'm serious – I could show you all 40+ ticket stubs), bought the soundtracks and even re-read the books; All of them. And….I hated Breaking Dawn even more. I wouldn't have thought it was possible, but there you go. The movie, reading the first three books again just reminded me of what I loved about the series, made me feel cheated by Breaking Dawn all over again. (My complaints against Breaking Dawn are similar to many who dislike the book: The story is a fiasco, repetitive and boring, the fact that she gets pregnant, that child, Edward's character deterioration, contradiction of mythology established in the first three books, Mary-Sue-ever-so-perfect vampire Bella, happy-ever-after-peachy-keen ending, and the fact that there was absolutely nothing bad about becoming a vampire after all. I could go on, but I won't)

Anyhoo – One night, and I tell no lies, I had a dream (ya, I know; very Stephanie Meyer). I dreamt a different ending. I got up at 3.00am in the morning and scribbled two pages of notes so that I wouldn't forget it. This story is the fruits of those notes. It's just my attempt to right the fictional world that I believe was wronged by the events of the final book. It's probably not that great, but neither was Breaking Dawn so, whatever. Originally, I planned on only rewriting part of the book and keeping the first six chapters in tact. However, on reflection I decided that there was a lot I didn't like about the beginning of the book either so went back and re-wrote that as well. I have retained Meyer's basic narrative structure by keeping the wedding at the front of the story (even though it would make more sense for it to be a post-climactic event) and I have retained '_Isle Esme_' as the honeymoon location, both of which are due to my original intent of writing only a new ending. Helpful and constructive feedback most welcome. Please Enjoy.

"_With every fibre of my being, I ached to be a normal man, so that I could hold her in my arms without risking her life. So that I could be free to spin my own fantasies, fantasies that didn't end with her blood on my hands, her blood glowing in my eyes_."

Edward, Midnight Sun (p.141)

"_Not us, not my family. We would trade anything to be human. But none of us had ever been so desperate for a way back as I was now."_

Edward Cullen, Midnight Sun (p.263)

**Chapter One - Second Thoughts**

I had cold feet. Actually, my feet were beyond cold. They were freezing. I had freezing feet; freezing feet in danger of frostbite…severe frostbite. Frostbite so bad that my feet were probably about to snap off, just like what happens to cartoon characters…. well, you get the picture. I had cold feet.

We'd told Charlie about our plans to get married. To be more accurate Edward had gone and asked my Dad for my hand in marriage which was really embarrassing, not to mention completely old fashioned. Yeah, way to advertise the fact that you come from a different century, Babe! Charlie had a conniption. The poor guy turned purple and nearly choked on his beer. We really should have waited until he wasn't consuming food and/or a beverage before making the big announcement. He didn't say much while Edward was there; made it patently clear he wasn't happy, sure, but he didn't use many actual words. Once Edward had left it was a different story however. Then my non-communicative, emotionally restrained father let loose and told me he thought I was making the biggest mistake of my life, that I was rushing into this, that there was so much more in this world than Edward Cullen and hadn't I learnt anything from his and Mom's disastrous marriage, that was, he reminded me severely, carried out in much the same circumstances. When I didn't change my mind he went back to being quiet and resigned to the event and I hated that more than his fury.

I told my Mom over the phone. It was the first time I've ever heard her lost for words. I was glad I couldn't see her expression. Or the colour of her complexion. Renee is something of a free spirit. She couldn't for the life of her work out why I needed to rush into marriage at all. I gave her the standard College excuse, about Edward and me wanting to go off to New Hampshire together, but she still couldn't see the necessity of marriage.

"Well, Edward is kind of old fashioned you know" I offered as another explanation

"Humph, that doesn't surprise me" Renee replied with a noticeable hint of derision.

"Mom! I love Edward!"

"Yes… at the moment you probably think you do. Honey, you're about to go to college and meet a whole slew of new people. Who knows who you might meet there! Yet you're willing to throw your life away with the first guy you've ever had a crush on!"

"It's more than a crush."

"Okay, fine. I know you love him, but Bella, this is crazy. This is the twenty-first century; you don't have to get married at the tender age of eighteen! Believe me; I know what its like. I've been there. I've done that, and apart from you, it was the worst mistake of my life. Oh your Dad and I were very much in love too, couldn't keep our hands off each other and we were going to do so much, see the world together. It seemed so romantic to be married and joined forever. But you know what Baby, we didn't see the world and life wasn't real romantic, what with bills and crappy jobs and being stuck in Forks for all eternity. Truth is; love finds it very difficult to survive discontent. It's all moonlight and roses now, but won't always be this way."

It was my turn to be bereft of speech. I wanted to tell her that Edward and I were different. That all her dire predictions wouldn't happen to us because we were going to be together forever, for infinity…but of course, I couldn't share that part of the story so I stayed silent.

"What do you want Bella?" she asked and emphasised the '_you'_

"Edward" the word came out in a tiny peep.

"So you've said. But I'm yet to hear any evidence that you want to marry him, you've said you love him but I haven't heard any enthusiasm or excitement for the marriage part."

Again I fell to speechlessness. She knew me so well. I found I couldn't lie to her and profess to eagerness I didn't feel.

"Bella, sweetie, I don't want to upset you but you need to hear this! You need to think carefully before you make a decision that you'll regret forever. Think about it. Please."

I'd hung up the phone determined to dismiss all the parental objections from my mind but it didn't quite work that way. Every time I was alone I could hear my parent's worries echoing in my mind and I remembered all my own objections to this whole plan and only succeeded in confusing myself further because all these thoughts really weren't so different.

I kept my fears hidden; quite a feat with a mind reading boyfriend (oops, I mean fiancée) and a future-seeing-nearly-sister-in-law. I thought a lot about everything and went over and over the pros and the cons and went round and round in circles. And finally, after nearly a month of contemplation I came to some conclusions. Of four things I was completely certain. One, I loved Edward more than anything in this world. Two, I wanted to become a vampire and be with Edward forever no matter what. Three, I wanted Edward to be the one to change me, and four, and this one was the real surprise, I actually wanted to marry him. Somewhere along the way I had begun to like the idea of being Mrs. Edward Cullen. And that part was new.

However, along with this, there was something else I was beginning to suspect. If it wasn't the marriage or the impending change to vampirism that was giving me cold feet then it must be…..the wedding itself.

This suspicion, once I'd identified it, was rapidly confirmed as an irrefutable fact. Alice had thrown herself into planning the wedding. She loved it that I was compliant and easily persuadable; it meant that she had free rein with everything. In the month following the announcement of the engagement I'd said nothing. I had looked with feigned interest at everything that Alice had shown me and accepted her decisions as inevitable. She could see the future so she must be right, right? After my suspicion dawned, I still didn't say anything; she'd gone so far with the planning and preparations that it seemed cruel to say anything now. But the sick feeling in my stomach, the panic that gripped me every time she mentioned any aspect of the wedding day only corroborated my worst fears. This big, elaborate wedding ceremony was not a good idea.

The Wedding was just a month away and now my internal struggle had become an almost continuous debate on weather I should voice my feelings and try to get out of it or just go through with it regardless of my grave misgivings. I didn't want to offend Alice who had put in so much time and effort into the planning and I didn't want to hurt Edward who was obviously looking forward to the day. But, on the other hand, I didn't want to get to the actual day and then not be able to go through with it; and my trepidation was so severe I was fairly positive that I would baulk at the gate, so to speak, when push came to shove. Surely jilting Edward would be worse than calling the whole thing off? Wouldn't it?

Things had to come to a head sometime. The three of us sat in Charlie's kitchen (Charlie was out, he always made himself scarce when the wedding was under discussion). Alice had all her lists and brochures and she was showing me that just about everything was under control. She had even drawn up an itinerary of events for the wedding day detailing where we had to be and at what time from the moment I woke up till the moment Edward and I left the reception (that was scheduled for eleven pm on the dot, in case you were wondering). The list was the straw that broke the camels back. I looked at Alice's neat, colour coordinated bullet points and wanted to vomit. I slowly put the list back down on the table and then fled with speed that would make a vampire proud to the bathroom, only just making it to the toilet in time. I flushed then went to the sink to rinse my mouth out a few times before retuning to sit on the toilet. I started to cry.

Not surprisingly, Edward was very soon at my side. He felt my forehead.

"Are you sick?"

I shook my head and a fresh batch of tears spilled out of my eyes. Edward knelt on the floor before me, now obviously concerned.

"Bella, what's wrong?"

I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to get my crying under some sort of control before finally managing to say through stuttered breaths, "I can't do it."

"What?"

I bit my lip and took another series of deep breaths.

"The wedding."

Edward looked shell shocked. His face fell in such disappointment and I felt like the worst person on earth.

"You don't want to marry me?"

I grabbed his hand and held on for dear life. There was no hiding the truth now.

"I do. I do want to marry you! And not just because of the biting thing. I really want to marry you!"

"Then…?"

"I don't want…that" I pointed to the floor. Edward as not slow.

"You mean the wedding that Alice has arranged?"

I nodded, completely shamed by my feelings.

"Why not?"

"I know, I said she could organise it but it's too big, it's too elaborate. It's just not me. And I don't like the dress. And I don't think my dad will like it, you know, being on show and having all that attention on him and…" Fresh tears began to stream down my cheeks. I wiped them away with the back of my hand, "and, I don't really want to be on show either."

"But you do want to marry me?"

I nodded with absolute certainty. Suddenly I found myself gathered up in two strong arms with both incredible speed and divine gentleness. Before I knew it I was sitting on Edwards lap and he was where I had been sitting on the toilet in my father's too-small bathroom.

"Then we don't have to have that wedding, or even get married straight away. Whatever you want."

"I don't want to wait. I want us to get married. But how can I tell Alice. She'll be crushed."

Edward laughed. I looked at him with a questioning expression. He explained,

"Don't worry about Alice. She would surely know; and if she didn't know before, she certainly knows now."

"I've been in doubt for some time but Alice kept seeing things and saying that this is what I was having so, I figured, how could she be wrong."

"Alice wanted the big wedding. She loves organising these kinds of occasions and, the bigger the better. She was so busy enjoying herself she wasn't looking for your doubts, or…she deliberately ignored them. Why didn't you tell me how you felt?"

"I know you want it too."

"The only thing in the whole world that I want is you. I don't care about a big wedding. I want whatever makes you happy."

"Really?"

"Of course. You want to marry me. You tell me where and when and I will be there. Deal?"

I nodded enthusiastically, "Deal."

We sealed the pact with a kiss. A beautiful, slightly chilled kiss that made my moist cheeks very cold indeed but beautiful none the less. Edward pulled away and smiled to himself.

"And now, my sister is starting to wonder where we are and if you're going to explain where the vision of her epic wedding has disappeared to."

"Okay, I'm going to go and tell her everything. Aren't you going hunting with Jasper? You don't have to hang around. In fact, it might be easier if you're not here."

"Yeah, you could be right. She's thinking that if I wanted to I could talk you back into the big wedding." Edward paused and grinned, "But she knows I won't because, to quote her thoughts, I'm completely besotted with you and let you have whatever you want."

"Any chance she's right?" I said as I stood up.

"Little bit." He smiled his most dazzling smile, then said "Bella, you, like every other bride in the world, are entitled to have whatever kind of wedding you want. I'm just happy you want me as your groom."

"I love you"

He kissed me again.

"Love you too; I'll be back sometime tonight. Give Alice my sincere apology."

He was gone faster than my eyes could register and I was left to face Alice alone. I went down the stairs and was met by a pair of very frustrated topaz eyes.

"Well you could have said something sooner! I've put so much work into this!"

"So you know?"

"Yeah, it hit me in a blinding flash when Edward raced up after you. I thought he was going to try and talk you round. But he didn't. He's so..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know; besotted. I am sorry Alice."

She shrugged. "I should have paid closer attention. I have been sensing some turmoil around you but I just thought it was pre-wedding jitters. At least that's what I told myself. I suppose the truth is I didn't want to see anything else, I was having too much fun."

"So you never really saw me in that dress?"

"You're wedding dress? Well I imagined you in it and you looked so pretty but was it a future vision? Probably not, more like wishful thinking."

"Do you see me wearing in the future?" I asked, more out of curiosity to how she'd react than any need to know the destiny of the big fluffy gown. Alice considered the question for a moment then replied, "No, I don't see you wearing it," then added with some astonishment "You don't like it?"

"It's nice, but it's not really me."

"Boy, did I get this whole thing wrong. I'm sorry Bella. It was just eagerness for you to be my sister."

"We're still going to be sisters Alice."

"You're still going to marry Edward?" I nodded in response to her surprised query. "Cool. When and where?"

I smiled, "I haven't decided yet. No doubt you'll know when I know."

We were quiet for a moment. Alice gathered all her papers and I sat contemplating what sort of wedding I might like for Edward and me.

Suddenly Alice was looking at me with a look of disbelief on her face. "You're not serious?" she asked with a note of horror.

"What?" I asked with mock innocence, knowing full well the decision I'd just reached that she now also obviously knew.

"You want to get married in jeans and sneakers?"

"Yeah, I think I do," I replied with a satisfied smile on my face.

Alice made a dismissive sound and rolled her eyes. She thought for a moment, and then looked at me with a grin, "At least you're going to let me buy you a nice blouse to wear. Hmmm, I don't like it much, but you will."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two – Gifts

The reaction I got for cancelling my wedding bought more joy to the people I loved than the prospect of it ever had. Dad was relieved and Mom was thankful. They both thought I had made the right decision. Charlie initially thought that Edward and I had broken up over it and was a little confounded to find that wasn't the case and even though we'd called off the wedding we were still dating. For a little while he thought I'd come to my senses. I hadn't. I didn't enlighten them that the marriage was still on and that it was only the three-ring-circus of a wedding that had been called off.

Of course, the Cullen's completely understood. Once they were sure that Alice wasn't taking the change of plans too badly and that Edward was completely content they accepted my decision with little argument. Esme even agreed that my way was eminently more sensible because it didn't do anything to draw undue attention to the family. Edward, being the gentleman that he was took care of informing our invited guests that the wedding had been cancelled. He sent beautiful hand-written notes to our friends from school, around town and from La Push that somehow managed to notify of the cancelation of the nuptials without assigning blame or inviting undue speculation. Of course there was still a lot of talk and a cancelled wedding was the most exciting thing that had happened in Forks for many a moon (or so most people thought; oh I could tell them some stories!). For the week after the cancellation I found myself the subject of furtive stares and keen appraisal. Everyone seemed to assume that Edward had been the one to change his mind and I was the recipient of a lot of sympathy. When it became obvious that Edward and I were still together people gradually lost all interest entirely. Edward said he could now divide the residents of Forks into one of two camps – the practical folk who thought that cancelling the wedding was a good, sensible thing because we were far too young to be taking such a big step and the romantics, those who found the calling-off utterly heart-rending. The practical outnumbered the romantics three to one. Nice to know so many people thought we were crazy. Apparently a lot of them had thought I was pregnant too. If they only knew.

A little over a week later Jacob turned up in town. He'd been wandering the wilderness in his wolf form since he'd got news of my impending wedding. Obviously a report of the cancellation had filtered through to him courtesy of his wolf-brothers. The day he came to visit me Edward wasn't around and neither was Charlie; I was in the process of divesting the fridge of plastic boxes filled with leftovers that were growing a fascinating variety of moulds and fur. Jacob came barrelling in without knocking, barged into the kitchen and caught me in a vice-like embrace that threatened to suffocate me.

"Jacob!" I protested.

He held me tighter. I began to struggle against the claustrophobic confinement. "Jacob!" I cried again as I pushed against his tank-like chest.

Finally he let go.

"Is it true? The big wedding is off?"

I nodded and before I had a chance to add to my insufficient explanation Jacob caught me in his arms again only this time he pressed his lips on mine. With his kiss he tried to coax my mouth to open and return the affection but rather than fighting him off, I remained passive. Jacob stopped and looked at me intensely,

"I knew you'd come to your senses. I knew you couldn't go through with it!"

"What do you mean?" I wasn't sure if he meant the wedding or the changing…

"Marrying the bloodsucker! I knew you couldn't marry that…that thing, and want to…be with it!"

I flushed with embarrassment. "Jacob…" I started to say in a horrified accent, about to put him in his place but he cut me off.

"Bella, we have a chance now! I know I'm a bit younger than you but nobody would ever know and I'm not ready to get married, but I guess you're not ready to either hey, so that doesn't really matter anyway. I'll come and see you at college, all the time, though of course you won't be going all the way across the country now." It wasn't a question, he said it like he was stating a fact and he just kept going, "Have you transferred somewhere local yet? This'll be great! What made you change your mind? Was it me? It was that kiss wasn't it? God Bella, I lov…"

"Jacob, don't say it! What the hell are you thinking?!"

"You've busted up with the bloodsucker. This is our chance Bella! I've come back for you." He grabbed me round the waist and I knew he was about to pull me to him again.

"I haven't broken up with Edward! We're still together!"

His hands dropped to his side and he looked at me ill-comprehension.

"But you called off the wedding, Charlie told my dad; the bloodsucker sent a letter. Why would you call off the wedding if you were just going to stay together?"

"It wasn't Edward. It was the wedding. It was too big, too out of control. I'm still going to…"

"Marry him? What about the other thing? Is that still going ahead too?"

"Everything is exactly the same as when you left only I'm not quite sure when we'll get married but that's only because I haven't decided when it will be yet."

"So, not for a while then?"

"Before we go to college."

"When's that?"

"Two months time, but we want to have a…" I stopped talking. What was I doing? I didn't actually want to disclose that bit to Jacob.

"A what?" Jacob demanded angrily.

I didn't answer. Jacob glared at me. He looked quite intimidating and for the first time ever he scared me a little and that made me angry. Who was he to come into my house and demand to know things that were none of his business?! He wasn't backing down. Fine! I knew that the words I was about to say would hurt him but at that moment I didn't care. It was his fault for thinking he could bully me into doing what he wanted.

"A proper honeymoon. Edward and I want to have time to go on a honeymoon after we're married."

Jacob took the information in, processed it and turned so red that it looked like he was about to explode. I stepped backwards. I'd never seen him look so fierce.

"A honeymoon, before you go to college," he put air quotes around the word 'college'. "But of course, you're not really going to college, that's a cover story for that other little treat you have planned. So when you talk of going on a honeymoon with…with that creature, you mean that you want to sleep with him, that you will let him touch you and…"

"Jacob! That is none of your business" I said with cold civility.

"He'll kill you!"

"You know nothing. I'm not talking about this with you."

"Maybe I'll have a little chat to your father. Have him start watching you like a hawk again."

"I'm nearly nineteen Jacob. My father doesn't tell me what I can and can't do."

"Doesn't mean he wouldn't make it real difficult for you if he knew what you were up to!"

"I think you should leave Jacob. We won't have a friendship left if we keep going on like this."

"Don't worry about it Bells, we won't be friends after Cullen's had his way with you! We'll be enemies."

"It doesn't have to be that way."

He made a dismissive sound, threw up his hands and turned to the door, "I'm outta here!"

"What, going back to sulk in the woods in wolf-form?" I asked with some derision.

"Nah, I think I'll hang round home for a while. Have a feeling the treaty might be about to get broken. Should be real interesting."

With that he stormed out the door slamming it behind him with force that made all the windows rattle in their frames. I shook my head unsure of what to make of his parting threat. Edward and I would be far away when my change took place. It would have no effect on the treaty or the Cullen's, or the wolves for that matter. I didn't expect Jacob to be happy about my decision. I knew he hated the whole idea. I was also very concerned with the fact that the minute Jacob reverted to his wolf form then the whole pack would be know all the gory details of the argument we'd just had. Who knew how they'd react. And Jacob's dad was a problem too. Even though he wasn't a wolf he was still privy to the pack news, he got told everything, and now Jacob knew I was still planning to marry Edward so it would only be a matter of time before Billy found out too and Billy would surely tell Charlie, which could indeed make my life very unpleasant.

To my complete surprise, however, everything went on as normal. Dad spent the weekend fishing with Billy and came back as cheerful as ever. No word on his daughter's still active marriage plans had reached his ear. Jacob must have somehow kept my confidence, at least from his father. He was a good friend, shame he could be so darn infuriating at times! Once I was sure my dad wasn't going to chain me to the house to make sure I wasn't going to run off with Edward, I began to think that I'd better make some plans to do exactly that.

One thing I was certain of was that I wanted a low-key wedding, no fuss, no frills. The other thing I was sure of was that I wanted to get married as me, not a tizzy, dressed-up Barbie doll. There was really only one choice. I jumped on the internet and did some research, looked at some pictures and wrote down a couple of addresses…even made a booking online. Then, after telling Charlie that I was going to town for a couple of hours I raced out to my truck and took off for Port Angeles. Once there I went straight to a travel agent and bought four airline tickets, making sure that the chosen flight would land in Las Vegas after the sun had set. Next I popped into the jewellers, making a quick purchase. As I was walking back to my truck I passed a fashionable clothing store. In the window the mannequin was wearing a beautiful pair of indigo jeans cut just the way I liked them. Since I was spending my meagre 'college fund' anyway, I thought 'Why not' and went into the shop. Just because I'd chosen to forgo to big white and frilly wedding didn't mean I couldn't get married in something new.

I came out of the shop with the jeans and a new pair of Converse sneakers. I nearly bought a top too but then I remembered what Alice said about her buying me one, so I decided not to worry about it afterall. I bought a blank card from the newsagent and then headed back to my truck. Before starting the engine I wrote a short note in the card, sealed it in the envelope and put it on the seat beside me with my shopping bags.

I was about halfway home when my truck started to make a funny noise, like it was choking to death or something. I pulled over to the side of the road, hoped out and popped the hood. Grey smoke came billowing out. I coughed and waved my hands to keep it from getting into my eyes and nose. Even though I knew nothing about cars, I knew enough to know that this was not good. I didn't want my beloved truck to be broken, or worse! I got my phone out of my bag and was about to call Edward when Rosalie's red Mercedes appeared out of nowhere. It pulled in behind my smoking truck and Edward and Rosalie stepped out. I was very relieved.

"Alice saw that you were having a few car difficulties" Edward said with a smile as he came to my side and the leant down to kiss me. Rosalie already had her head over the engine inspecting the damage. "You've been to town?"

"Yeah, I had a couple of things to get" I told him then opened the car door and leant over to grab the sealed envelope which I then handed to him. He looked at me quizzically then opened the missive. He read the brief note, looked at the airline tickets then leaned down to kiss me again, this time more lingeringly.

The note said:

Where – Amour Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas

When – 7pm Friday (Nevada time)

"This truck is beyond saving," Rosalie announced as she came out from beneath the hood. It never failed to surprise me that Rosalie, the most beautiful and vain creature I had ever encountered in my entire existence loved to tinker with cars and didn't mind the grease and grime that the hobby entailed. But that hardly mattered now. I shook my head, trying to comprehend her words.

"Beyond saving, you mean its dead?"

"Sorry Bella, it's had a good life though." Rosalie seemed genuinely sympathetic. It was a new experience for me.

"So there's no chance of revival then?"

"It would take a lot of work and time, it would be out of action for…ages. And It'd cost more than its worth. In short, it's a write off."

Edward looked at Rosalie and nodded, "I'll do that." He took out his phone and called a tow truck to come and pick up my poor deceased utility.

"I'll buy it off you," Rosalie suddenly offered.

"I thought you said it wasn't worth fixing."

Rosalie shrugged, "I like a challenge. Besides, I like looking at the engineering too, these old American things were built to last." She named a price, too much I was sure but at least it would be nice to be able to hand the money back to Charlie as he'd been the one to buy it in the first place so I agreed to let her take it. I felt incredibly sad. That was my truck; I loved it despite all its foibles. It was unique and I'd had it almost from the moment I'd arrived in Forks. It was like losing an old friend. I almost felt like crying.

"The tow truck will be here in a little while." Edward announced as he put his phone back in his pocket. Rosalie went back to the engine and had another look, now that the smoke had cleared some more.

"So you're without a car," Edward observed somewhat unnecessarily as I looked with sadness at my beloved vehicle. 'At least I know what to get you for a wedding present now."

"No! It's too m…" I began to protest. Edward interrupted me, a bored tone in his voice, "Bella, I thought we were over this ridiculous refusal to accept gifts from me. You need a car and I can provide you with one, more importantly, I want to and I'm going to so you may as well just accept it."

I looked at him with a frown for a moment, then decided not to argue about it. "Fine; just make sure its nothing too…extravagant."

Edward looked at me with an innocent expression that I knew all too well was actually more devil than angel. "Don't worry; I know something that will be perfect." When it came to automobiles I suspected that Edward and I had very different perceptions of what 'perfect' meant. I would have to wait and see.

Edward was looking at me, a pleased expression on his face.

"What?" I asked

"So, Friday huh?"

"Is that alright?"

"I'll be there."

"Good."

"Are you going to tell Charlie?"

"Are you kidding? It's kinder to tell him after the deed is done. I don't want him having a heart attack or anything."

"What are you going say?"

"We'll only be gone overnight. I've already told him I'm spending the night with Alice. It's not a lie, technically. Alice and Jasper will come won't they?"

"I suppose so. She didn't say anything this morning and she was thinking about clothes although that's what she usually thinks about when she doesn't want me to know something. So I better organise us this honeymoon then."

"Sorry about the short notice."

"It's not a problem. Leave it with me." He kissed my nose and then my lips.

"God, are you two at it again?" Rosalie scoffed as she came out from beneath the hood. "Where on earth is that tow truck? I swear I could have got the thing back to the house quicker than this!" It had started to drizzle and the wind had picked up. I found it kind of funny that Rosalie, who didn't seem to mind oil and grease at all found it so difficult to endure a little rain and sleet. Thankfully, at that moment the tow truck appeared and a little while after that we were on our way back to the Cullen's place in Rosalie's car.

I left Edward and Rosalie directing the tow truck driver where to put my old truck and went to find Alice.

She was in her room poring over fashion magazines. She jumped up when she saw me.

"Las Vegas, huh? This is going to be great!"

"So you and Jasper will come?"

"Are you kidding, I love Las Vegas, though, we do have to be careful about all those lights, but it's not a huge problem."

"I didn't think of that."

"We just have to keep to the shadows a bit, avoid the worst bits of the Strip. No big deal."

"So you've really forgiven me?"

"Silly; of course I have. It's a decent alternative and, I suppose with this insistence on being a denim-clad bride, it was the obvious choice."

I rolled my eyes and laughed. She made it sound like I would be in a denim evening gown instead of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Here," Alice said as she held out a heavy cardboard tote bag emblazoned with a well known designer emblem, "the top I promised you."

I took the bag with thanks and peeped inside. Half expecting to see some crazy, high fashion item made out of lace and satin, I was surprised, pleasantly surprised, to see a very plain white dress shirt, long sleeves, stiff collar, button-up front, little polo player embroidered on the pocket. It was perfect.

"I love it," I told Alice as I held it up to myself in her mirror. "Gotta say, I'm surprised by your restraint."

"I had another one in my hand, White lace, came with the prettiest satin camisole, but you'd have hated it. So I got the one I knew you'd like."

"Well I do. It will look great with my new jeans."

"I also got you this, it just doesn't seem right that you don't have something pretty for your wedding day."

"I do have something pretty; Edward."

"Ha-ha very funny; here, open it."

I took the small, square box and opened it to find a silver heart-shaped locket engraved with delicate scrolls of filigree and set on a long silver chain. I was still staring at it when Alice grabbed it out of my hands and clasped it around my neck. "There isn't that pretty?"

I could only agree, but pretty didn't seem to be an adequate word. "Look, it opens up. I've already put yours and Edward's pictures inside," Alice said with excitement as she snapped the heart open to reveal the pictures. Edward looked perfect, of course. I looked . . .like me. She should have put a picture of Edward on both sides.

"It can be your something new," Alice announced once she'd finished her show and tell.

"Okay." I said with uncertainty and then started to protest the extravagant gift, "Really, Alice, this is too much. It's beautiful but . . ."

"I'm not listening Bella." Alice held up a dismissive hand and looked away from me, before adding, "So that's something new, what about your something blue?"

I looked at Alice like she was crazy then, knowing that the only way to beat her was to join her, I suggested, "My jeans, they're blue?"

"Great! Those jeans are good for something afterall. Something old?"

I thought for a moment and then held up the wrist on which I wore both my carved wolf charm and the diamond heart that Edward had given me. It had been his mother's and was very old.

"Nice. Hey, you could have just said Edward, he's really old." Alice laughed at her own joke then said, "And last but not least, something borrowed?"

"I got nothing."

Alice went to her draw and pulled out a white handkerchief with lace edging and handed it to me, "Here, put that in your pocket and give it back to me afterwards. You're good to go."

The next day, the day before we were due to fly to Vegas, Edward arrived with a present too. It was a crimson sports car, a Jaguar XK, so Edward told me. It was a two-seater that was low to the ground, with plenty of grunt (apparently) but equipped with impeccable safety features. It was very nice; the absolute antithesis of my rusty old truck and it petrified the hell out of me. I wondered if it was too soon to move on, if I should observe a suitable period of mourning before moving on to a new, much sexier, vehicle. Dad was excited. He looked at it with appreciative eyes and asked Edward all sorts of technical questions. I asked just one question, "My truck only passed away yesterday, how did you manage to get this one so quickly?"

Edward looked self-conscious for a moment then admitted, "Actually, I've had my eye on this for a while and… I've had it stored in a garage since the last time you had engine troubles. Wanna take it for a spin?"

I took the keys and reluctantly walked around to the driver's seat, before hopping in I had to ask, "You didn't murder my truck did you? Or put out a hit on it?"

He laughed. "No. Your old heap died of natural causes. I knew it was only a matter of time."

"Alright, I believe you. Dad, you can have a drive when I come back, if you want, shouldn't be too long."

I started the engine and took off, giving the car too much acceleration because I was used to a much heavier vehicle. I slammed on the breaks then had another attempt. This time I glided down the street with little effort. It was certainly nice to drive. It responded to the slightest touch and it always started on the first go. It was comfortable and non-draughty. And the windows went up and down with the touch of button and didn't get stuck halfway while rain was coming pouring in on me. This car was making the deficiencies of my old truck glaringly obvious.

"Do you like it?" Edward asked a frown creasing his brow after I'd pulled up on a deserted side road.

"Yeah, I do. Who wouldn't? Now let me kiss you so I can thank you properly."

Edward raised no objections; actually, he was most cooperative.

Charlie got his drive of the Jag just a little bit later than originally promised.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three** – **Hold the ladder steady

The next day I saw Charlie off to work and, as I was 'going over to the Cullen's' for the night, he said he would head straight down to La Push as soon as his shift was done and spend some time with Billy, no doubt watching sport, playing cards or fishing, and that he'd see me sometime Saturday afternoon. As soon as the cruiser was out of sight I raced upstairs and checked my bag for the hundredth time. Because we were going to be away for less than a day, I was not taking any luggage with me so I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed in my handbag. I had cash in my purse, lipstick and, wet wipes, deodorant, the instructions of how to get to the chapel and a printout of the booking and receipt for the ceremony itself. I think I had everything I needed. Except now I had a lot of time to kill before going to meet the others. Edward, Alice and Jasper were out hunting just to make sure they were not in any way thirsty during our quick trip out of town so I couldn't even go and hang out with them. There had to be something better to do than watch the clock. I tried watching television but I swear my dad only subscribes to sports channels. I tried watching a DVD but couldn't concentrate. The same went for reading a book. Finally I achieved distraction by actually looking at some of the college enrolment information that Dartmouth had sent me. I spent quite a long and surprisingly enjoyable time picking subjects, making notes and structuring a course of study. I had a lot of Literary-type selections which was not really a surprise. I began to wonder where such a course of study might lead. A teacher or a librarian or a writer perhaps; they were the three obvious possibilities I came up off the top of my head. Without thinking about what I was doing, I went a step further; I imagined myself older, kind of sophisticated, hair pulled back and wearing silver rimmed glassed and helping a classroom full of students to appreciate and understand Romeo and Juliet. Then I imagined a book I'd written with a picture of myself on the back cover. Again it was an older, more stylish version of me. I certainly wasn't a vampire in either of the fantasies.

Huh.

It made no sense to imagine myself as aging! I was going to be a vampire – I would never age; and yet, older and sophisticated - that was the image I created in my own mind. I had to wonder at the possibility that, despite everything, despite my certainty, I still seemed to have an element of doubt, or disbelief, about what I was planning to do. Momentarily I was swamped by sadness that we wouldn't really be going to college, that there would be no career for me, at least, not for a very long time. Carlisle had taken decades to get to the point where he could practice medicine safely. And of course, I would always be nineteen. That alone would limit my vocational options. Would I have to repeat high-school over and over like Edward and his brothers and sisters? Maybe I would be too old for it to be believable now. What would I do with myself all day, every day for eternity? I hadn't really thought about that part very much. Perhaps I should have.

I shook my thoughts away and pushed the college information to the side of my desk. This was my wedding day for goodness sake! This was not the time to be second-guessing my decisions. Besides, what did it matter if, just maybe, I didn't want to rush into becoming a vampire right away? Edward wouldn't mind, I knew that for a fact. The point was; I still wanted to marry him regardless. If worse came to worse, I still had a few years up my sleeve until we would begin to look really silly together – It wasn't like he looked like a stereotypical seventeen year old and it wasn't like I looked way older than my age or anything. It would be fine. None of it affected the fact that I was marrying Edward in less than six hours. And that fact alone made me incredibly happy; it was a happiness that was completely independent of the bargain we'd made, the desire for him to be the one to bite me, the fact that the whole engagement had originally been a compromise so that we could both get something we wanted even though it meant that we both had to do something else we didn't want to do. None of it mattered now. It was all incidental detail. I wanted to marry Edward because I loved him. End of story.

I killed another hour by showering, washing my hair, shaving my legs, dressing in my new clothes and doing my hair. I looked in the mirror for a moment once I was done; the jeans looked great, so did the top and necklace Alice had given me but I sure didn't look like someone about to get married and for some reason that made me laugh a little at my own reflection. But I didn't regret my choice of attire.

Finally it was time to go, which was a massive relief because I knew that once I was actually doing something the nervous anticipation would dissipate. I drove to the Cullen's house trying to resist the urge to use the speed that my new sports car was easily capable of producing. Edward was waiting in the driveway. He looked nervous too. I parked my car in an empty space in the garage and Edward opened the car door and helped me out before pulling me into a deeply satisfying embrace-slash-kiss.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as we broke apart.

"Amazing," I replied, my head swimming slightly from the intensity of the kiss, then added, "Oh, you're asking about the getting married part."

Edward smiled appreciatively.

"Actually, I feel really good about it. It's been a long day of waiting though," I told him.

"Not nervous or having second thoughts?"

"Little nervous and no second thoughts, about getting married. You?"

"I'm feeling fine. Calm as calm can be."

"Then why were you pacing up and down the driveway when I got here?"

Edward looked embarrassed for a moment, and then admitted, "Okay, you've caught me out. I couldn't concentrate while we were out hunting and I was a little, shall we say, concerned about whether you would show up or not."

I was offended. "How could you think I wouldn't?"

"Forgive me Bella; it was only a very small thought, but quite vocal. I kept thinking that you didn't really want this, that I'd forced your hand so to speak."

"I told you I wanted to marry you, didn't I? I meant it. I mean it. I organised it! Speaking of which, we have a plane to catch."

Alice and Jasper made a timely appearance and without delay or preamble we all hopped into Edward's car and headed for Port Angeles. We made our flight in good time and the journey to Las Vegas was surprisingly quick thanks to a tail wind. From the airport we got a cab straight to the wedding chapel. This was it…

The Amour Wedding Chapel was, well, it was exactly what you would expect a Las Vegas wedding chapel to be; everything shiny and white except for the blood red carpet and oodles and oodles of colourful silk flowers all over the place. I began to wish I'd gone for the drive-through option afterall. However we were here and it was paid for and this was going to do. I went to the reception desk with my receipt, rang the bell and waited for someone to assist me. A minute later a woman, with the most enormous white beehive I've ever seen came to the desk.

"Can I help you hon?"

"Um, yeah, I, uh, we have a booking for a wedding at seven."

She checked the screen of the computer on the desk said "Miss Swan and Mr. Cullen?" I nodded. "Excellent. Just a few formalities and then we'll get you good and wed."

She handed me a few forms to fill out, which I handed to Edward (his writing is so much neater than mine) and I signed in the appropriate places.

"Whoa, that's quite a rock you've got there young lady," The receptionist remarked when she caught sight of my engagement ring. "We have a selection of beautiful wedding gowns available for hire that would do your ring justice. We can outfit the whole party and provide flowers too for a very reasonable fee."

I looked at Alice's face and nearly burst out laughing. At least I'd found something that was even more distasteful to her than my getting married in jeans. The thought of hiring formal clothes from a wedding chapel was obviously abhorrent to her.

"No thankyou, we're fine. This is kind of what we want."

"Oh." The receptionist was taken aback, but only momentarily, "Okay. Well you all take a seat and I'll call you through in a moment."

"You sure you don't want to dress up honey," Jasper teased Alice gently, "I'm sure they've got some lovely frocks."

"Knock-offs no doubt, and second-hand" Alice replied dismissively. "Better to be under dressed than badly dressed!"

"You know, I think she's coming around to the jeans wedding," I remarked with a grin

"Nothing wrong with a jeans wedding," Edward assured me. "I happen to think you look extremely beautiful."

"You're biased, but I think you look really great too; well, gorgeous would be more accurate actually."

And he did, of course. He wore jeans too, which he'd teamed with a dark blue dress shirt and matching tie and jacket. He looked more stylish than me, but that was nothing new really, I was used to him being the more attractive one in our mismatched partnership. It really didn't bother me anymore. I was just happy that it was me that he loved and that he was apparently blind to my general ordinariness. Of course, Alice and Jasper looked awesome as well and were sweet enough to keep my wedding theme consistent by wearing jeans too. Alice wore hers with a beautiful, embroidered peasant blouse, a jewelled belt and ballet slippers. Jasper wore a white dress shirt with a grey cashmere sweater over the top. The three of them looked like something out of a _Vanity Fair_ or _Vogue_. I could only imagine the joint impact of them if I'd let them dress up in proper formal attire. Admittedly, that was something I'd like to see one day, but let it be on someone else's special occasion. Maybe Emmett and Rosalie would get married again sometime soon and we could all dress up for that?

A few minutes later and the doors of the chapel burst open and a newly married couple stumbled through. She wore an ill-fitting gown that suggested that they'd gone for the hired outfit option. They looked very happy though. They and their friends were ushered out of the foyer and into another room while the receptionist from before went into the chapel armed with a dust-buster. Two minutes later she called us to come through.

The chapel itself was quite nice; less gaudy than the reception area had been. The celebrant called us forward, "Uh, Edward Cullen and Bella Swan? Okey-dokey, come on down the front here, and your friends too and we'll get you married off right and tight. Now Missy, you come and stand here."

The celebrant positioned me to the right side of his lectern. "And sir, you stand over here." He directed Edward to stand opposite me. "And friends you both come and stand here and here," he motioned for Alice and Jasper to stand beside us. "Now isn't this nice and cosy?"

It was. . . It was perfect. I think a little sliver of me had been worried that I would regret not doing the whole big white wedding thing, but now I was certain that would never be the case. Edward reached for my hands and took them in his. They were cold, but I hardly noticed. For the moment I was lost in the warmth of his eyes; they seemed to be particularly golden tonight. So captivating was the sight that it took me a moment to realise the celebrant had started the ceremony.

"Today, Edward and Bella, you will be bound together; you take each other as husband and wife. Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other. Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other. There is only one life before you, and your seasons will be good and long. Best Man, Have you got the ring?"

Jasper nodded and dug into his pocket retrieved a ring which he handed to Edward.

The celebrant continued; "Do you, Edward, take Bella to be your wife?"

"I do."

"Will you love, respect and honour her throughout your years together?

"I will."

He slipped the ring on the second finger of my left hand. I was stunned to see, not a plain gold band but a diamond studded gold band. It was beautiful and (I was sure) outrageously expensive, but you know what? I didn't care. I loved it on sight. My attention was called back to the wedding by the sound of the celebrant asking for the other ring and Alice dropping it into my palm. He then asked the same simple questions to me.

"Do you, Bella, take Edward to be your husband?"

"I do"

"Will you love, respect and honour him throughout your years together?"

"I will."

I slipped the plain gold ring onto Edward's finger. It fit perfectly. God bless Alice for telling me the right size! Edward examined his hand for a moment and then looked at me with an expression of such deep love that I almost buckled at the knees. I hoped he knew that I was just as happy and just as deeply in love. I hoped my expression was a mirror of his.

"Edward and Bella, this is a commitment made in love, kept in faith, and eternally made new. Share all that life brings, be faithful to one another, give willingly, receive freely, speak openly, listen intently, support unconditionally and grow in unity. Now by the power invested in me by the State of Nevada I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Icy lips met warm ones. The kiss was sweet and tender and lingered for the exact right length of time; long enough to be very romantic but not long enough to cause embarrassment for our onlookers. A cleared throat from the celebrant reminded us that we still had one small formality to complete; Edward and I signed the marriage certificate and Alice and Jasper also signed in the appropriate place as witnesses.

"All done," The celebrant announced. "Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, may you have a long and happy life together." He picked up a camera and snapped an unexpected picture. "Your complimentary photograph; we'll pop that in the post when it's ready, you'll get it in a couple of weeks."

That was that. We were married. Both Edward and I thanked the celebrant before the four of us all left the chapel. Once we were back in the foyer congratulatory hugs were exchanged and Alice produced from her handbag a small digital camera and proceeded to take some more photographs to mark the occasion. The receptionist came over and offered to take a group shot of the four of us too. I was sure that Alice's pictures would be better than the surprise shot that the celebrant had taken, I was grateful that she's remembered to bring her camera and that I'd have some wedding photographs afterall.

Once we were done we went outside to hail a cab.

"So what do we do now?" Alice wanted to know.

"Don't you two want to go and get a room somewhere?" Jasper asked us, a mischievous grin on his lips.

I went red with embarrassment, Edward laughed and Alice was mortified, "Jasper!"

"They just got married. Isn't it kind of traditional?"

"No, traditionally the honeymoon follows a reception," Alice explained with patience. "And Edward has the honeymoon under control so the four of us can go and have some fun now."

"We're on the first flight out in the morning, so we've got all night," I told them. I was all for the going out and having some fun plan. I didn't relish the thought of Edward and me spending our first night together with Alice and Jasper watching the clock outside. I was intrigued, however, to hear that Edward had the honeymoon plans under control. He hadn't said a thing.

"Where are we going?" I asked Edward quietly

"Somewhere warm"

"Oh. When are we going? All my summer clothes are at Mom's."

"Don't worry, Alice had had a lovely time packing for you. And we can go whenever you want. Mrs Cullen."

I smiled at his adding my new name to the end of his sentence. It sounded so funny. I was a 'Mrs'. But it felt….right.

Seven hours later we were on a plane heading home. Edward's arm was wrapped tightly around me and I rested my head on his shoulder. My eyes were shut but I didn't sleep. I was enjoying the euphoric sense of satisfaction that my marriage had bought me while I could, before I had to face the task of telling my father about my runaway wedding. It had been a great night. After leaving the chapel we'd caught a cab to one of the big casinos and had a tremendous night of fun and celebration. First we'd had dinner (and I mean 'we' as in me). It was a strange experience going out to dinner with three vampires who all ordered three courses from the menu but actually ate none of the food. And they didn't just send their plates back full either. They were masters at making their food disappear without me even noticing. I still don't know how they did it or where the food actually went.

After dinner we went into the gaming room. I played the slot machines for a while but got more enjoyment from watching Alice play for a time then offer her machine to some unsuspecting patron who would, after a few coins, invariably hit a jackpot. It was very good sport. Jasper played poker. He was very good too and possessed legitimate skill, a throw back to his confederate army days, not to mention a poker face that was literally like stone and offered his opponents no clue as to what was in his hand. He won seven hands straight before calling it quits with a sizable stack of chips. Edward didn't play poker; he said there was no challenge in it when you knew exactly what was in your opponent's hand. He did like games of chance though, craps and roulette. And, while he didn't win as much as Jasper, he did, as I always suspected, have amazing luck and came out in well front. Once we'd all had enough gambling Alice dragged us all into the nightclub where she and Jasper took to the dance floor with enthusiastic abandon. It must have been contagious or perhaps it was my existing state of elation that made me forget about my phobia of dancing because they even succeeded in getting me to join them.

It has to be said; I am a dreadful dancer. I never know what to do with my arms and legs and where Alice looked like she could win '_So You Think You Can Dance_', I looked like I was having a seizure or something. The others laughed but I didn't even care. I was actually having fun. And it was even better when the music slowed down for a bit because then Edward wrapped his arms around me and everything else simply ceased to exist.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four – Admissions

We arrived back in Forks early on Saturday morning and went straight to the Cullen's house. We found Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Rosalie all sitting together at the dining room table reading various sections of the morning paper.

"Oh, are you back already? I thought you three would be out hunting for much longer" Esme remarked after a brief glance in our direction and then returning her attention to the article she was reading, not even realising that I was standing behind the others.

"Bag anything good? Any bears?" Emmett asked

"No bears, but Edward caught something good" Alice told them, a beaming smile spreading across her face.

Her strange statement made them all look up from their reading, questioning expressions on their faces.

Edward held up my hand at the same time he drew me out from behind him, "I caught a wife."

I bit my lip and watched surprise suffuse their faces.

"We didn't go hunting," Edward explained. "We went to Las Vegas and Bella and I got married."

Esme made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a squeal and jumped up to hug us both. Carlisle shook Edward's hand and then pulled him into a fatherly embrace and kissed me warmly (in feeling, not temperature) on the cheek. Emmett ruffled my hair and slapped Edward on the back and said "You old dog you!"

Rosalie grabbed my hand and inspected my ring. "Nice. Edward always has had great taste in jewellery."

"I know you would have liked to be there Esme, but we thought, seeing as Charlie wasn't keen on our getting married that it was best to keep it on the quiet side. We're hoping he'll cope better now that it's a done deal."

"I understand Edward. I really do. I'm just so happy for the both of you; and a little offended that Charlie doesn't seem to approve of my wonderful Edward. He'll come round," Esme said with surety as she touched Edward's cheek tenderly, "How could he not?"

"I hope you've got some photographs to show us!" Carlisle's words reminded Alice of her camera full of pictures which she promptly loaded onto the computer and printed out multiple copies that we spent the next little while pouring over and telling the rest of the family every detail of our trip to Vegas.

Okay, so that was one family told, but there was still two to go. Too bad we'd done the easy one first. The Cullen's had been great, better than great. I really felt like I belonged with them, like I was part of the family. I felt slightly guilty that I'd been having doubts about really becoming one of them and yet, if I was accepted the way I was, was there really any need to rush into the permanent change? The decision certainly wasn't getting any easier to make.

"You're quiet," Edward observed as we drove back to my dad's place.

"Just thinking about how I'm going to tell my parents. I'm kind of glad that I'll have to tell Renee by phone."

"They may be upset initially Bella, but they will get used to it and see that our marriage isn't the end of the world."

"You're right, of course but it doesn't make the fact that I'm about to upset them both any more inviting."

Charlie was not home yet so I took the opportunity to call Renee. I went to my room and dialled her number on my cell phone. She answered on the second ring. I took a deep breath and began my well rehearsed speech.

"Hey Mom, how are you?"

"Bella! I was just thinking of you. Tell me, have you sorted your college enrolment out? Have you chosen your subjects?"

"Yeah, it's all done Mom."

"Tell me everything."

So I took the opportunity to avoid making my announcement for a little bit longer and spent the next five minutes telling her all about the subjects that I'd picked out while running down the clock yesterday and if my enrolment wasn't actually done, officially, then my mother was none the wiser thanks to the enthusiasm for my chosen course of study that I was easily able to demonstrate.

"Is Edward still going to Dartmouth?"

"Of course"

"I just wondered, I mean you called off the engagement, it would only be natural for your relationship to cool off too. That is usually the way these things go. Who knows, maybe you'll meet someone new once you go to New Hampshire."

My mother's conversation was startlingly repetitive. She seemed to say the same things every time we spoke. My annoyance caused me to forget my carefully prepared script.

"Well that would be pretty awkward, if I met someone new I mean. Edward and I got married yesterday."

The phone went dead. My mother had hung up on me. Yeah, that went well.

Not two minutes later my phone rang. It was Renee. She told me I was crazy. She told me I'd made a huge mistake. She told me that I'd regret this decision sooner rather than later. She also told me she loved me, that I was old enough to make my own decisions and that she'd stand by me no matter what. She wasn't exactly turning cartwheels for joy at my news but neither had she disowned me; all in all I was not unhappy with the way the conversation went.

I went downstairs and told Edward about the phone call. He sympathised but agreed that it could have been much worse. I only hoped that we weren't about to get a taste of what worse meant once Charlie got home.

Dad came back mid-afternoon. He'd been out fishing and seemed to have had a nice time but seeing me and Edward alone in the house made him forget his cheerfulness; me and Edward being alone and unchaperoned always made him suspicious. He bought back fresh fish which I, in a blatant attempt to curry favour with him, offered to cook for us.

"Haven't you two seen enough of each other for one week-end? Aren't your parents expecting you home?" Charlie asked when Edward showed no inclination to leave.

"They know where I am" Edward replied then stubbornly took a seat at the kitchen table.

This was not good. This was_ not _good. I needed Charlie to be in a good mood when I told him what I'd gone and done yesterday and it seemed that the only way to get him in that happy mindset was to send my husband away but the fact was, I was too much of a coward to make the announcement without him there. I had thought to wait until Charlie had eaten a lovely meal of home cooked fish but now I saw this just wasn't practical. I had no choice I had to get it over and done with now. The sooner I told him, the sooner he'd get used to the idea. I sat down at the kitchen table too and bit the bullet.

"Dad, I've got something to tell you," I began and tried to sound happy without being comically inane. I was such a bad actress and my nerves and apprehension were easily winning the battle for control of my emotions. "Its good news, at least I think its good news."

"You're pregnant," Charlie said with dread. It was the same conclusion he'd jumped to when I'd told him I was engaged.

"No Dad, I'm not pregnant. Why do I have to keep telling you that?" I tried to keep my tone light and jovial. I didn't want this to turn confrontational, if it didn't have to.

"Fine, what is it then?" Charlie was plainly suspicious.

"Um, okay, the thing is… Edward and I got married yesterday."

My father looked at me in disbelief for a few seconds before demanding, "What? How?"

"We went to Las Vegas and got married there. Here is a picture." I slid a photograph of me and Edward in the chapel across the table to my father. He looked at it for a moment and then, to my utter astonishment, my stoic, emotionally economic father began to cry.

My heart wrenched horribly. I looked at Edward but he was looking at my father, a frown etched on his brow. I longed to ask what Dad was thinking but knew it was not the time. Suddenly Edward got up and left the room. I heard the back door open and close again. I didn't know what to do. Seeing my Dad this upset made me cry too and I hated that I was the one to do this to him. I got up and got a paper towel and wiped my own eyes then pushed the roll towards him before sitting back down again.

"Dad, it's really not that bad. I think it was kind of inevitable."

"You couldn't even tell me what you were planning? Was this his idea?"

"No, it was all my idea and no, I couldn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't like it."

"But you called off the engagement. I thought all this marriage nonsense was all done with, at least for the next few years."

"I called off the wedding – that whole big extravaganza was not what I wanted. I could see that you were uncomfortable with it too… but I still wanted to marry Edward; actually, after I called off the wedding, I was more certain of that than ever."

"Bella, you're so young!"

"I know."

"Your marriage has very little chance of success, you know that don't you"

"I know"

"So why do it?"

"You know why. I love Edward and that is never going to change and before you say anything I know that every young couple who runs off to Vegas feels exactly the same way, but all I can tell you Dad, is that I have a conviction, an innate knowledge that my feelings for Edward will never change. I've told you before, he's an old-fashioned guy and sure, he had to talk me into the whole marriage thing, but trust me when I tell you that my arm was not twisted up my back and I went into it one hundred percent sure I was doing the right thing. I hope you'll be happy for me, in time.

"I don't know Bella…"

"We're going away for a couple of weeks, so that will give you a little time to get used to the idea."

"Going away when? Where to?"

"Tomorrow, I think. And I'm not sure where, Edward organised that part."

Dad nodded slightly and said nothing. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he finally asked, "How did his family take it?"

"Um— pretty well."

"They're happy that their son ran off and got married at the age of nineteen?" Dad was plainly unconvinced that any parent could take such news with good grace, let alone enthusiasm.

I shrugged. What could I say? Yeah, they're happy Dad. Edward has been alone for eighty years; they think he's waited long enough? Somehow, I didn't think he'd understand.

"Different kind of family I guess," Charlie mused, more to himself than to me.

I nodded in agreement all the while thinking that he had no idea of just how exactly right he was.

"Where are you going to live? I mean until you go off to college."

"With the Cullen's; they have a big house and plenty of room."

"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. This place will be quiet without you. 'Spose I was going to have to get used to it anyway, but still."

I nodded in agreement. It would be strange to live someplace other than this house.

Suddenly Charlie asked, "Did you tell your Mom?"

"Yeah…"

"And her reaction was—?"

"Pretty much like yours; bit more fiery. She even hung up on me."

That actually made Dad smile just a little bit.

"Yeah, Renee always was a fan of the dramatic. I might go and give her a call though, have a chat."

He got up from the table and went to the phone and then, belatedly getting the hint that he wanted a bit of privacy, I too got up and went out the back door. I peered out into the fading light wondering where Edward had gotten to and then nearly jumped out of my skin when he materialised out of nowhere.

"How's Charlie?"

"Okay, I think. He's certainly subdued. Why did you disappear?"

"He wanted me to go. He wanted to talk to you alone."

"Oh. That makes sense. Do I want to ask?"

"Do you want to ask what?"

"What else was he thinking?"

"It's not all bad; sure he was annoyed as hell that we'd gone and got married. Thinks you're too young, too inexperienced etcetera; all the stuff I'm sure he said to you. But, he was also sad. Not because we got married, but because he wasn't there, He didn't get to do what fathers usually get to do at their daughter's wedding."

"Contradictory thoughts; he has my sympathy."

"What do mean?"

"I know what it's like to be thinking two incompatible thoughts at the same time. I've been doing that a lot lately."

Edward's arms went around me and held me close. He kissed the top of my head and said, "You're having second thoughts about being changed?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about life, afterwards. I was looking at college courses. I was beginning to think that maybe I should have a career and then I think of you not ageing and…I don't know what to do."

"There's no rush Bella; whatever you want."

"I think that's kind of the problem; I don't know what I want. Can I just not think about it for a while? I want to think about our honeymoon. Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise, but we're flying out tomorrow, if you think Charlie will be alright with that."

"I think he'll be fine. So you said Alice has packed for me? That should be… interesting."

Edward smiled. "I'll come by to pick you up at about eight."

"Come by and pick me up? But aren't you going to stay…"

"I've got to go hunting. My last hunting trip, before we went to Vegas, was not overly successful and tomorrow we've got a long trip ahead of us and then I don't plan to be thinking of my thirst once we get to the—, uh, once we get where it is we are going."

And so that is how I spent the second night of my married life; sleeping alone in my pre-marital bedroom while my husband was out catching deer and bears and whatever else it was that vegetarian vampires considered suitable thirst-relieving game.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five– Bliss

The trip to our honeymoon destination seemed to take an eternity; three separate flights and a boat trip over two long days - but it was completely worth it. Edward had bought me to a private island, poetically named 'Esme's Island'. It was off the coast of South America and was owned by the Cullen's; it had been a gift from Carlisle to Esme some years ago. They had been more than happy for Edward and me to use it for our honeymoon. Yeah, they owned an island – Some family, huh?

And did I mention that it was absolutely beautiful? A lush tropical paradise ringed by a crisp white beach and the wash of gently rolling waves. It was exactly like something you would see on a postcard or in a glossy magazine and was the epitome of every mysteriously sultry place I'd ever imagined. We weren't living rustic either; the Cullen's had a seriously gorgeous house on the island too. From the outside it looked like something out of _Gone with the Wind_ but on the inside it was modernised and meticulously maintained despite the irregularity of residents.

It was mid afternoon when we arrived and Edward carried our luggage up from the dock while I tailed behind trying to keep up. I didn't mind though – the view was spectacular. I was fascinated by the sight of Edward's sparkling skin and by his not seeming to be give it a second thought or trying to disguise the phenomenon like usual. It felt intimate and I have to admit, I found it down-right sexy. Once we got to the house Edward told me to wait where I was while he ducked inside and put the bags down. He reappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Now Mrs Cullen, I'm going to carry you over the threshold," and before I had time to even form my inevitable protest, I was off my feet and in his arms as he made great ceremony of stepping through the doorway and into the house.

"Of course, I'll have to do this all over again once we get to New Hampshire, because that will be our home for the next few years or until you decide that its time to…"

"I think once is plenty," I told him sternly, not really wanting to think of any of the serious, life-changing decisions still to be finalised. I kissed him tenderly then said, "Okay, put me down now and show me round this house."

Downstairs was a huge kitchen fully stocked with food.

"I had our caretakers stock the fridge and pantry. They come in every few weeks to clean and make sure everything is all right. We've had instances of uninvited guests to the island in the past but Carlos and Sangetha know how to handle them selves."

"They're vegetarian vampires too?"

"Strictly speaking, no; they live on the mainland and live off donated human blood, like from the blood bank. They've gotten very good at stealing what they need. They don't want to kill people but they don't want to give up real blood either, so they've made a compromise."

"Are they like your family? Living with people?"

"No. They crave human blood. If they lived amongst people they would find their urges too hard to resist. They live a fairly isolated life and do this as a favour for Carlisle. He was apparently quite influential in causing them to choose their lifestyle."

"Carlisle never ceases to amaze me. So many vampires seem to have heard of him and the influence he has on them..."

"I know. He is incredible."

"Will the caretakers be coming while I'm here?"

"No. we have enough supplies to last us for at least two weeks, though if you want to stay longer I can always arrange for them to bring more provisions."

We continued the tour; Edward showed me into a media room that contained the most massive television screen I'd ever seen.

"That's for if we find ourselves with nothing better to do with our time – two hundred different channels."

I looked at him quizzically for a moment but said nothing. I knew perfectly well he was teasing. I was one hundred percent positive that we had better things to keep us occupied that would render that television completely redundant.

Upstairs were a number of bedrooms, all with their own bathroom. Our bedroom was beautiful. It was huge and was empty but for a giant wooden four poster bed that was swathed in white netting. A doorway led to a large walk-in robe and another led to a generous sized ensuite. French doors led directly onto the wide open veranda and a picturesque view of the ocean. It was exquisite.

"You like it? I mean, you wouldn't have rather gone somewhere else?"

"No. It's perfect."

"It's not too hot? I thought the tropical climate might…counteract my body temperature."

"It's not too hot, besides, I'm a Phoenix girl remember; heat poses no problem to me."

"Good. I'll go bring up the bags. Are you hungry?"

I hadn't eaten anything substantial since the morning flight and Edwards question reminded me of that fact, "Yeah, I am actually."

"I'll go and make you something while you…"

"While I take a human moment."

Edward left the room and I ran myself a shower. It was a great feeling to change out of the clothes I'd lived in for two days straight and rid my body of the grimy feeling that flying in planes seems to inevitably engender on one's person. By the time I'd finished and wrapped myself in a huge white bath sheet, my luggage was sitting on the end of the bed but Edward was nowhere in sight. I unzipped the bag half intrigued, half terrified to see what Alice had packed for me. I was right to be afraid.

On the top of the neatly folded stacks of clothes were not one but four tiny string bikinis that I wouldn't be seen dead in. Next I came to the cache of scanty lace lingerie in a rainbow of colours and styles, most of which had me blushing just by looking at it. Under that was the underwear that was apparently supposed to be 'everyday' but in reality looked as saucy as the other stuff. And for a little while I was fairly certain that the first thing I was going to do once I became a vampire was to kill Alice Cullen. She was only saved by the fact that eventually I laid my hands on was a number of pairs of shorts (that were just that; short) and some strappy singlet tops that were wearable. I quickly chose the least offensive set of underwear, black lace that fitted perfectly, and put them on followed by a pair of red shorts and a black singlet. Then I dragged my bag into the walk-in robe so that I could put my clothes away and hide some of the very sophisticated lingerie that I was simply not ready to wear. I was a virgin for crying out loud, and I needed to walk before I could run! Luckily in the process of unpacking I found a very nice floor-length bathrobe that would certainly come in handy and also, a pair of cream coloured satin pyjamas that seemed eminently more sensible (though certainly not totally utilitarian), than anything else I'd had packed for me.

After I was done I went downstairs and found Edward dishing up a salad and fried chicken for me.

"You look nice," he observed after noticing my change of attire

"Thankyou. I'm not going to comment on Alice's packing skills."

"That bad? She said I'd be happy with it."

"I don't think she meant happy in a strictly functional sense."

"Oh." Edward smirked and I knew that he understood perfectly. "And on that intriguing note, I hope you will forgive me for leaving you to eat alone while I go and have a shower."

"Yeah go. It's always a bit weird having you watch me while I eat anyway and I'm so ravenous now that it's not likely that you'll miss any sparkling conversation either."

Edward kissed the top of my head and was gone in a flash leaving me to eat my dinner with caveman-like enthusiasm.

Edward returned just as I was finishing off the dishes. Without words he came and took me by the hand and led me outside. The sun had set and there was a full moon rising from below the horizon leaving a shimmering silver trail dancing across the ocean. We walked hand in hand along the beach in silence apart from the rhythmic sound of the waves washing against the shore.

"This is incredible," Edward suddenly murmured as though he was talking more to himself than to me.

"What is?"

"The quiet - The silence here; It's amazing. I can't hear anything except for the waves and it makes me realise how noisy my everyday life is, except for when I'm with you. But in Forks, even when it's just you and me it isn't quite like this."

"You used to wish that you could hear my thoughts."

"I did. But only because it was weird not knowing. It gets kind of addictive knowing the truth all the time. When I first met you I was frustrated that I couldn't read your mind; that I had to guess and wonder about what you were thinking and feeling – like some normal mortal. But I don't feel that way now. I like that don't know what you're thinking. I like the peace and I like feeling like a human. Makes me wish I was hu--" but he stopped the sentence, laughed softly and added, "It's just one more thing I love about you."

I smiled at that and then, much to my chagrin, I yawned; and not in a little, delicate, easily disguisable kind of yawn either. No, it was a mouth-wide open-screw-up-your-face kind of yawn. I covered my mouth with my hand but it was too little, too late.

"I saw that. You're tired."

"I'm not!" I protested earnestly but completely ruined my credibility by breaking into another involuntary yawn.

"Right; Bedtime for the human," Edward said sternly.

"But…" another protest was forming on my tongue.

"Bella, we have all the time in the world and you need some sleep."

I didn't argue with him as we walked back to the house but I was not happy. I had been married for five days and so far I'd spent three of those nights on aeroplanes and one alone while he'd gone out hunting. Great! And now it seemed he expected me to sleep through the fifth! The worst part was that, darn it all, he was right; I was incredibly tired.

We got back to the house and Edward sent me upstairs while he locked up. I trudged up the stairs and went into the walk-in wardrobe, found the silk pyjamas and slipped them on. They felt cool against my skin and made me think of the feeling of Edward's hand touching me. Suddenly I felt less tired. While I was pulling back the heavy quilt (which, in this climate, could only ever be for aesthetic purposes) Edward came into the room. He ducked into the robe and reappeared moments later wearing nothing but a pair of long black silk pyjama bottoms. No; definitely not tired now.

We both climbed into bed and pulled the cotton sheet up over us. Edward murmured 'good-night' and kissed my lips meaning, I was sure, for it to be only brief but I returned his kiss with undeniable enthusiasm.

"You're tired," Edward reminded me when I finally let him pull away for a moment.

"Not so much. I must have got my second wind," I whispered. I wasn't lying. I had too much adrenaline pumping through my veins to even think of going to sleep now.

"Are you sure?" I wasn't sure if Edward was asking about my being tired or alluding to something else.

"For the last time, yes," I said with quiet assertiveness then added, "I know you're nervous, we both are. But it's going to be fine. You won't hurt me."

"Never intentionally….but perhaps--"

"No buts!"

I reached over and kissed him again. He kissed me back but I could still sense a tinge of reluctance evident in the way he held his body slightly rigid and away from mine. I saw that I needed to do something bold to break through his lingering reluctance. So with a heavily pounding heart, I sat up and pulled my pyjama top over my head and dropped it on the bedroom floor. I lay back down pressing my naked chest against his and began kissing him once more. It was a good move. Edwards qualms vanished and in an instant I could feel his hand roaming the expanse of my back and he was kissing me with a fervour I'd never felt before. Soon my face and neck, my whole body, was being explored by his cool mouth, heat inexplicably erupting wherever his lips travelled.

It was everything I ever imagined it could be, only more so. The sweet scent of Edward's skin sending my senses tumbling, the feel of his body against mine, inside me, us moving rhythmically with one another, moving with gradually building speed and intensity bringing me to a crescendo of ecstasy. I bit my lip. I started to shake initially trying to resist the powerful new sensation that was developing. Resistance was futile. I shuddered and gasped and cried out as I reached the pinnacle of bliss.

I breathed a sigh of satisfaction then opened my eyes to look at my darling Edward. But, instead of finding beautiful topaz eyes looking back at me I encountered orbs of pitch black. I took a sharp intake of breath caused by pure shock and in a flash, before I knew what was even happening, Edward was gone. The only hint to the direction travelled being the still swinging French door.

I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest, looking questioningly around the empty room and open door. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go after Edward; not only would I probably get lost in the jungle but, something told me it wouldn't be a very good idea for me to be anywhere near him at the moment. That's what shocked me most; I always knew that a part of Edward longed for my blood but he kept that desire on such a tight reign that it was easy to forget but tonight the truth was inescapable; Edward wanted to drink my blood. I hadn't seen his eyes that black since the first day in Biology class and it scared me a little and it worried me a lot as to what this reaction might be doing to Edward. Where was he? Was he safe? Knowing him, he was probably out there somewhere cross with himself, beating himself up over his self-diagnosed 'selfishness'. I wished I could somehow reassure him.

I sat in silence for a little while, ever expecting Edward to return at any second. But he minutes ticked by and turned into hours and still he did not return. Finally the tiredness that I'd been dodging all afternoon caught up with me and I felt my eyes getting ridiculously heavy. I tried to fight it ….

I don't know how many hours had passed because suddenly I found myself gathered in two strong, cool arms and felt my cheek being kissed tenderly. I rolled over into Edwards embrace and clung to him with sheer relief. In the light of the breaking dawn I was relieved to see that his eyes were once again their usual golden amber.

"Are you alright? I was so worried."

"I'm fine. Now. I'm sorry I had to run off like that. It was safest that I did."

"Your eyes were…"

"Black. I know. I'm sorry if it scared you."

"Just a little," I admitted. "But why did it happen so suddenly?'

Edward smiled. "Bella, it was exactly what I've always feared; Being intimate with you unleashes certain urges. I've schooled myself for this, thought I could control it but… being with you, feeling you beneath me, feeling you experience… nothing could have prepared me for the power of it. It was overwhelming, even for my control. I don't have a sexual climax Bella. I'm a vampire, not a human and in circumstances such as these my climax would usually be to bite and feed.

The truth finally dawned on me. "That is what you've been trying to avoid all the time we've been together. When I wanted to—"

"See, I was right to be cautious. You thought I was being overly vigilant but the truth is I wouldn't have had the fortitude to leave if we had attempted this kind of intimacy earlier in our relationship."

"You would have bitten me?"

"Undoubtedly."

"And…"

"You would be dead."

"Because—"

"There is no way I would be able to stop drinking once I started."

"You did stop, last time."

"Completely different situation. You were in agony, Carlisle was there."

"So when, I decide it's time to be changed it won't happen after we've…"

"No. When I change you it will be under carefully controlled conditions and will not be at all romantic nor include such unpredictable variables as my making love to you."

"Right." I digested this information. It made sense. "That is understandable." But then another query struck me and I blurted the question out without thinking, "This doesn't mean that we're never going to, uh – you know, do it again, does it?"

Edward laughed softly. "No my sweet Bella; as if I possess the strength to resist you now that I know the magic we can make together. But we must never get complacent about the risk this poses to your safety and you mustn't hold it against me if I have to leave at an inopportune moment."

"I won't," I promised sincerely. "Maybe with practice it won't be so – um, bad?" I wanted to kiss him and let him know that I trusted him. I wanted to touch him again but I wasn't sure if it would be unfairly pushing the bounds of his restraint but to my surprise Edward leaned over and kissed me with lingering suggestiveness before murmuring softly, "Practice may be just the thing."

The next few days we were pretty much fully occupied and we barely left the house, let alone the bedroom. What was food compared to Edward's touch? Even the lure of the beach and the emerald ocean failed miserably when weighed against the sensual wonder we could create together. This was just how I had imagined it would be. This was the very definition, the epitome of my 'happy place'. Yes, Edward's eyes frequently blackened and he more often than not still had to zip off quickly to avoid the temptation to bite me but his absences grew gradually shorter and now I barely worried when he left. I knew that very soon he'd be back in my arms so usually I used the time he was gone to catch up on my much interrupted pattern of sleep.

I rolled over and stretched languidly but when I didn't find a smooth cool body beside me I opened my eyes. It was probably mid morning, judging by the height of the sun; usually Edward was well and truly back by now. Suddenly, in my peripheral vision I saw a blurred movement. He came and sat on the bed beside me.

"Sorry I've been away so long. I decided it would be prudent if I hunted and pickings were slim – nothing but wild boar and they take a bit of chasing."

I don't know if it was the mention of food but suddenly my stomach growled and gurgled in a completely unattractive manner. Edward laughed. I blushed. Edward kissed my cheek; he loved that blush.

"Come on, feeding time for the human too. I'll make you something nice to eat. Got to keep your strength up."

"So we've got another week here?" I asked as we dressed for the first time in days.

"Yeah, but we can stay longer, if you'd like. College starts in two months, if you still want to go, so we may need to get home sooner to prepare for our move across the country. I've got us a house, just in case. But if you don't want to go to Dartmouth, I mean if you want to go back to your original plan then that is fine too and in which case we can stay here longer. The choice is yours."

I swallowed hard. This was all getting so serious! I'd been so certain that I wanted to be changed. No, correction; I _was _certain I wanted Edward to turn me into a vampire and make everyone's lives simpler. Edward wouldn't live in constant fear of killing me, the Cullen's secret would be safe, the Volturi wouldn't be a threat and most of all, I would get to be with Edward forever. Originally, I'd thought that we'd have our honeymoon and then, towards the end, Edward could, you know, bite me, see me through the agonising transformation process and then take me somewhere safe to see out my uncomfortable, unpredictable time as a newborn vampire.

But then I thought of my dad. It would be so mean to tell him we'd decided to go directly to college from out honeymoon hot on the heels of the unwelcome news of my marriage and then in all likelihood, not see him ever again. Or my mother for that matter. Even though I was loath to give up the divine isolation of Isle Esme, I had to concede that maybe it would be better to return to Forks sooner rather than later so that I could have extra time of being a daughter and a wife (guh – that sounded so grown up!) instead of jumping headfirst into becoming a vampire. The trouble was that I kept changing my mind about what to do and when. I was my own worst enemy. Edward, I suspect knew this, bargained on this. He wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.

Once we were both dressed we left the bedroom to go down to the kitchen.

"Eggs? Pancakes? Bacon? Or all of the above?" Edward asked as we walked. I was leaning towards the later suggestion; for the first time in days I found myself with an appetite for something other than Edward. At the top of the stairs he froze suddenly. "Someone's here," he whispered as he stepped forward and peered over the edge of the balcony to the entrance foyer below.

"The front door is open," I observed quietly as I clutched Edward's arm.

We stepped cautiously down two steps.

"Who is it?" I asked

"I don't know"

"What do they want?" Sometimes it was very convenient having a boyfriend (oops, I mean husband) who can hear the thoughts of others.

"I— I don't really know. His thoughts are confused and convoluted. I can hardly make head or tail of it but…."

'But?" This was ominous.

"I think— I think he believes that he can cure me."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six – Unexpected

"Cure you?" I echoed in complete disbelief. "Cure what? Of being a vampire?" It was the only thing remotely like an affliction that he might be said to suffer.

Edward raised his eyebrows and nodded his head. "That is exactly what he thinks, but like I said, his thoughts are very haphazard and difficult to read."

"He's crazy then?" I asked with a deadpan expression, then with more concern, "Is he dangerous?"

"Uh, no. At least, I don't think so. He's in the kitchen. Shall we?"

I half wished that Edward had asked me to wait upstairs but, to be fair, if he had, I probably would have insisted on going with him. I could be contrary like that. I held Edward's hand tightly and we made our way down the grand staircase and into the vast, open kitchen.

The man turned instantly at our entrance. He was old; or maybe it was just the snow white Albert Einstein-like hair that made him look really old – I wasn't sure. He was slight and skinny to the point of looking undernourished. He wore silver-rimmed circular spectacles and his left arm was gnarled and deformed, almost like something with a really big mouth had bitten a huge chunk out of it. I shrunk closer to Edward who was, I noticed, staring at the man with a perplexed expression fixed on his face. This was not a good sign.

"You!" The strange man exclaimed "You! You, you- you're one of them. I've found you." It looked like he was about to cry. "You're the one," he said in barely a whisper then suddenly shouted, "Would have killed me already if you weren't." Then he started laughing in a way that sounded more like a strange clucking sound. It was quite maniacal. "Would've killed me already," he repeated as if confiding a huge secret to us.

"What can we do for you?" Edward asked politely.

"Ha!" The man exclaimed suddenly, "It's not what you can do for me! It's what I can do for you!"

"Go on," Edward requested coolly. The puzzled expression was gone. Edward was back to being calm and self-assured. I suspected that he had worked out what was going on in this man's head. I wished I could.

"You're a vampire!" he began clicking and clucking fanatically again. Suddenly he stepped close to me and said, right into my face "Did-ya hear me! He's a vampire. Did he tell you that little girly? That there's a vampire!"

Edward stepped between me and the man and said brusquely, "Kindly stay away from my wife. What makes you think I am as you say?"

"Oh I know. Vampire stench! I know it like I know the back of my own hand."

Stench, what stench? I wondered to myself. Edward didn't stink. He smelt wonderful.

"Don't try to flummox me boy," the man said with sudden clarity but then just as swiftly recommenced that creepy chuckling. He pointed at me, "Little snack there would be a little snack if you weren't one of them."

"Them?" Edward asked quietly.

"One who doesn't eat human flesh, human blood. No blood." Suddenly the man dropped to his knees as if exhausted. "I've been looking for you for so long. So long and I've finally found you." This time he did start to cry loud sobbing tears that spoke of joy and relief after a lifetime of frustration. "I've found you. I've found you." He muttered the words over and over to himself.

Edward looked disoriented again. I went to the fridge and got him a glass of cold water and a paper towel for him to wipe his streaming eyes with. I touched his back to alert him to the simple offerings. He looked up and was grateful.

"Thankyou lass," he said as he took the drink.

I smiled at him and looked at Edward with concern. I hoped he had some idea of what we should do with our strange visitor, because I had none.

"Friend, please sit, tell us why you've sought me out," Edward said his most cajoling accent on display. The man suddenly seemed frailer than he had on initial encounter, if that was possible. Edward helped him up and ushered him through to the lounge and sat him in a comfy armchair. He drank his water and mopped his eyes and brow.

"Tell us your story," Edward encouraged as we sat opposite him on the couch.

"That might be easiest," The man conceded, "Then you'll understand."

I wondered how much of the narrative was for my benefit only. How much did Edward already understand the man's purpose in coming here? Maybe some of the details were still clouded for him too. Perhaps…

The old man began his story.

"Nearly half a century ago I was bitten by a beast in the shape of a man. I tried to fight him off but he managed to bite me on my forearm. His attack was interrupted by a gang of rowdy dockworkers so the fiend didn't get to finish me off; he took off fearful of detection I suppose. The creature left me alive but with a burning agony stemming from the site of the wound that it's teeth had left. It burned like fire in my veins, on the skin, in my flesh. It was unendurable. My only thought was to stop the pain. As luck would have it, there was a discarded bottle lying nearby and the pain was such that it drove me to smash the bottle and use a shard of glass cut out the burning flesh. It was a relief, the pain from chopping into my own limb preferable to that burning agony of the bite. I kept chopping until no hint of fire remained. The adrenaline allowed me to remain conscious long enough to finish the job and roughly bind the wound. I regained consciousness some time later, and this is the important bit, before I sought medical attention for my mutilated arm I sealed the lumps of my flesh in a specimen jar. That's right I kept them! I stored the away for safe keeping!"

I had no idea as to the possible significance of this rather gross piece of information was. But Edward obviously did. His eyes shone with understanding. Obviously this has cleared up some of his clouds and it all made perfect sense to him.

"Care to share?" I asked in a sideways mutter as the man finished his water. Edward replied in a low murmur, "No, you have to hear the whole thing. I don't think I've got everything straight as yet. His mind is very…chaotic." Then to our visitor, "You were saying?"

"Yes, yes! Where was I? Oh yes… You see, back in those days I was a scientist, a biologist in fact working in the field of medical research. I was attacked on my way home from work; I had my field kit with me. It was entirely natural, instinctive even, for me to keep the evidence of this bizarre incident in order to see if I could find the answer to the question of what bit me. Once I'd healed," he held up his mangled arm for effect, "which took longer than I ever expected, I returned to my field kit, sure that there'd be nothing left of the specimens other than rancid flesh. But to my utter amazement I was stunned to find that the meat had transformed into something akin to rock. I was wholly intrigued. My scientific brain had been engaged. I had to know what it was that had bitten me, what kind of substance could cause such a conversion. I ground minute samples from the specimen, always conscious that I only had a limited amount to work with and I began to investigate. I was able to isolate the substance that caused the transformation; it was the same chemical structure as the venom produced by the few mammals that have made the genetic adaptation, or rather, it would be more accurate to say, the few mammals which have retained the ability to produce venom. The fossil records show that in early pre-historic times venom was a much more common part of the mammalian artillery; but it is slow working and in general, is not an efficient method of catching large prey and so, over time it was relegated to naught but a strange anomaly in the world of mammals.

I was perplexed. What kind of man could cause a bite that burns like the fires of Hades? What kind of man is venomous? I became obsessed with finding out exactly what had bitten me. Soon I was caught up in a world of myth and legend, sifting through fictions looking for grains of truth, leads to follow. My quest became the obsession around which my life revolved. Stories and tribal lore led me to fantastical conclusions that were too unbelievable for a sane person to believe. No one believed me. No one could accept that walking amongst us humans were creatures which need to feed off us. Vampires we call them, bloodsuckers. But elsewhere they are known by many other names the Romanian Strigoi, Vrykolakas in Greece, the Chupacabra of central America and the Chinese Jiang Shi to name but a few. Every culture has a variation of the story. I came to believe the truth behind the legends. Yet, at the same time my scientific mind was challenged. I was a scientist; my work had been instrumental in the development of many antivenins for the most poisonous arachnid and reptilian bites. I was arrogant enough to believe that I could beat this one too. It became my mission in life."

I looked at Edward. Did he believe this man's far-fetched tale? Maybe it was his demented appearance but I couldn't believe that this man had succeeded in his ambition. But then, I had to consider the fact that I knew the feeling of that burning pain; I remembered it all too well and could readily believe that it could drive a person to such a drastic reaction. He continued his story.

"The price was high. It cost me everything. My wife lost patience and took my children away, my career ceased to matter, my reputation, my sanity; both gone but I didn't care. For nearly three decades I worked on the conundrum, chipping away at my precious sample, knowing that I was running against the clock. Finally I thought I had a substance that would work. I had has success with preliminary trials; my compound had the power to transform my petrified flesh back into fresh meat. It was, nothing short of incredible. My next desire was for a vampire subject willing to test the formula and here is where I reached an impasse; what vampire would want the cure? The vampire who had attacked me and left me for dead reveled in his blood lust, what possible use would one such as he have for my cure?

"I was demoralised. What was the point? I'd given up everything, my whole life in pursuit of a conceited dream – to solve a puzzle purely because I could! But to what end? Was it all to flatter my own academic vanity? A lifetime of chasing windmills; truly it would have been better if the creature had killed me. Death would have been preferable to the ruination I'd made of my life. In my despair I raged against my life's work. I threw my copious notes, my scientific observations to the floor intent on burning the lot and throwing myself on the pyre. I was halted in my tracks by two words that appeared in one of my volumes; _Stregoni Benefici_."

Both Edward and the man whispered the words at exactly the same time. The man heard Edward's words and nodded with surety.

"Yes. I had a new outlet for my obsession. I spent the last of my savings travelling the world, England, Italy, Canada, America, searching for clues, following the trail of rumour and legend, dissecting tribal belief and memories that survive from one generation to the next as to the whereabouts of this legendary vampire. The leads took me nowhere; dead-ends mostly – until I heard a whisper of this island. A paradise inhabited by the eternally youthful, the _de la Isla Jóvenes Eternamente. _

"I had reached the end of my journey. I had little money, no home, and nowhere left to go. I came here with my few belongings, my research and my precious samples and even though the island was uninhabited I thought I could do worse than spend my last days in paradise waiting. For if Fate had any sympathy for a pathetic old fool she would ensure that _Stregoni Benefici _would come to me one day."

He started to cry again. I'm sure they were tears of relief.

"I'm not _Stregoni Benefici_," Edward said gently. "But he is my father, vampiricly speaking."

The man looked confused. He looked at Edward, then to me and then back to Edward. "But…but. No, the legends call him golden," he mumbled to himself. Edward and I exchanged glances. Suddenly the man became animated again. "No! Not _Stregoni Benefici, _but you are like him! You are one of them – you have the golden eyes, you don't drink human blood!"

"No, I don't."

"And you're with this human girl!"

"This is Bella, my wife. I am Edward Cullen. Carlisle Cullen is the one you know as _Stregoni Benefici. _He is the head of our family."

"But don't you see Mr. Cullen, destiny has bought us together. Fate did not abandon me! It is you that I've been sent to help. Your wife is human. I can make you human too!"

By now I firmly believed that our visitor was completely crazy; too many years spent living in isolation with no companionship of any kind would surely send even the sanest mind around the twist. Edward must have wondered as much too because he suddenly asked, "How long have you been here on the island Mr—?"

The man didn't give his name but did answer the question very definitely.

"I arrived her on the Seventeenth of January, not quite two years ago sir."

The date he named caused me to gasp audibly. Edward looked at me sharply, an unasked question plainly visible in his expression.

"It's nothing really. It's just that… that was the exact same day I arrived in Forks."

The man's eyes snapped to mine. "Ahhh," he said with uncanny conviction "Our paths have been running parallel for some time and now they dissect. It is all meant to be."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven – Pros and Cons

Edward and I looked at each other. I wished that I could read his mind for once; his expression was so serious and intense. His brow was creased and even though he was looking at me I could tell that it was with unseeing eyes. He was taking this man and his bizarre claims seriously. I touched his arm and he jumped slightly. His focus returned to his present surrounds but his expression was no less solemn.

Our visitor's expression was intense too, only in a completely different way; he was excited. His eyes were bright with joy and his face was animated in a way it hadn't been when we'd first found him in the kitchen.

"I'll leave you now," he said in a rushed manner, I'll go and prepare the draught. I will return shortly – don't go anywhere!" The man scurried off to the still open front door rubbing his hands and muttering with glee. He was like a character in a children's pantomime, absurd and exaggerated. I found him very creepy, but the creepiest part was that he seemed to be under the impression that Edward's acceptance of this preposterous claim was a foregone conclusion!

Once he's gone I noticed that Edward was lost in his thoughts again. He stood still as a statue, his head cocked slightly to one side.

"Well, that was weird," I murmured more to break the silence than anything else, even so, I was a little surprised when Edward responded by saying, "Unexpected, was more how I would describe it."

"Yeah, that too."

"So what do you think?" Edward asked

"About our visitor and his story? I think he's a lunatic. And I think I don't really like him being on this island with us."

"He's harmless. He poses no threat."

"I notice you don't disagree with my assessment of his mental state."

Edward smiled. "Yes, he is…uh, eccentric. But he really believes what he's saying. He really believes he can cure me."

"I might be crazy enough to believe I'm the Queen of England, doesn't make it so."

"Bella, I looked into his mind. I read his thoughts. He's an incredibly gifted scientist. He has methodically, carefully, rationally worked on this problem for many years and, yes, it has taken a toll on his sanity but his scientific reason remains in tact."

Realisation hit me suddenly. Whereas I had been distracted by the outside wrapping, the fidgets and ticks, the mumbling and the maniacal laughter Edward had seen the vision and been seduced. "You want to try his antidote,"

I said barely any expression in my voice

"I see no risk in trying."

"Why?" I knew it was a dumb question but it was out before I could stop it.

"Bella, how can you even ask?"

"I know it was a stupid question. You want to do this for me."

"Of course Bella, of course for you! When I think of the trauma and danger I have introduced into your existence all because of what I am and the fact that you have chosen to be with me...It causes me great shame. I can barely live with my selfishness. I justify it because you want me as much as I want you but it doesn't make it right or acceptable."

"We already have a solution."

"It's not a solution. It's a compromise Bella. I don't want to kill you. I don't want you to have this life…to miss out on experiences you are entitled to. I want you to be able to go to college, have a career, not have to repeat high-school over and over and over for eternity. I want you to have your family and friends and children."

I made a strangled sound in my throat. I thought we were passed all this! Edward smiled and placed a cool hand on my cheek. "I know, I know. You've made your decision. You know what you're giving up. It still doesn't stop me wishing it was otherwise." He paused then said absently in little more than a whisper, "Perhaps it can be."

"You're getting your hopes up. I just think you should keep things in perspective…"

"Bella, how can I not hope? What this could mean for me and you; and my family. They could all be offered a choice….but no, you are right, I should not count my chickens before they hatch, so to speak."

I knew he was already doing exactly that. In his mind he and I and the entire Cullen clan were human. I could see it too. We were all gathered together, posed for a family portrait. Rosalie had a trio of curly-haired cherubs at her feet; Emmett held another in his strong arms. Esme held a pretty little girl, she giggled delightedly as Carlisle bent down to kiss her nose. Jasper and Alice gazed at each other lovingly, colour suffusing Alice's cheeks as Jasper whispered something in her ear. Edward stood behind me, holding me close, his hands on my ever so slightly swollen stomach…

I blinked my eyes and the picture was gone. I was quite surprised by the image I'd created in my mind. It had been beautiful but I was exceedingly surprised that I'd constructed myself as pregnant with Edward's child so easily. God, if this is what I, who'd made the decision to become a vampire and leave all human things behind, had imagined in the face if this man's dubious claim I could only imagine what wild fantasy Edward might have concocted. And it could only lead to disappointment. I was angry with myself; I didn't want any of that! I was prepared to make the sacrifice. I spun round to look at Edward. It was on the tip of my tongue to cry out that we should just forget about the man and his crazy claims and that I wanted Edward to just bite me now! I didn't want to think about things I couldn't have. That would only breed discontent. Edward's face stopped my words. He was still deep in thought but he had a light in his eyes that I'd never seen before. He wanted what this man was offering more than anything.

"You're going to do it," I stated.

"I am certainly considering it."

"But…" I stopped. I had no right to stop him from trying even though, for some reason, I was suddenly terrified.

"But what?" Edward asked with genuine concern.

"We don't know if it's safe. What if there are side effects? What if you age rapidly? What if you've still got the disease that was killing you?"

I was trying to control my growing hysteria. He was only seeing the pretty picture, now all I could see was the nightmare. I didn't want to voice the one big thought that was now echoing endlessly in my mind but my mouth functioned by its own volition. "What if it kills you?" I spat the words out with terrified fury.

Edward froze momentarily and then, before I realised his intent, his arms were around me, holding me close in a protective cocoon.

"Shhh, Bella," He soothed, "Don't think such things."

"I can't help it." I felt a little bit calmer but I wasn't sure if this was a good thing. My fear had been keeping my tears at bay and now they were escaping with rapid regularity. I didn't want to be so pathetic. Edward just held me close and kissed the top of my head.

"I know you're scared Bella, but believe me when I tell you I would never do anything that would threaten my life with you. Like I said, I don't see any risk. There can be no harm in trying."

"You can't know that. Not for sure."

"True, but…look at it this way; you've seen vampires being destroyed. You've seen what it takes - great brutal force, and fire. Bella, technically I'm dead already, I don't think this will hurt me. It will either change me or do nothing at all but it won't 'kill' me."

"How can you know?"

"How can we know anything for certain? Bella you are willing to undergo a transformation for me even though the outcome cannot be known with any

Surety. Does it surprise you that I am prepared to make the same sacrifice for you?"

"Of course not. But I just can't risk you"

"And now you know how I feel."

"Don't you want to talk about it with your family, with Carlisle?"

"It's a leap of faith Bella. And I don't want to get anyone else's hopes up, or for that matter, offend anyone. If it works then obviously we'll tell them but if it doesn't we'll never speak of it again."

I had run out of arguments. So now, the best I could do was hope that Edward was fully prepared for what he was planning on doing. "I think you should go and talk to our new friend, ask him some questions. Maybe find out his name."

"That's a good idea. It will ease your mind."

"Don't do anything rash. I mean, come back here before you, you know, take the potion."

"I will," he promised, kissed my lips tenderly then swiftly departed with vampire speed.

In a kind of daze I went and sat on the beach. The sun still quite high but I found a small patch of shade garnered from a bushy palm tree. The ocean shimmered like jewels in the sunlight while a gentle breeze played with loose tendrils of my hair. The idyllic surrounds belied the turmoil of my mind. I thought of Edward and that spark of hope I'd seen in his eyes. I thought again of that intoxicatingly pretty family portrait, of the human Cullen's. I tried not to but I wasn't in complete control. The mental images had a will of their own. Without even trying the picture zoomed in on Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cullen. And they were beautiful and happy and they had colour in their cheeks and a baby on the way. They made it easy to forget my fears for Edward. This, or something very similar, is what Edward was imagining too. No wonder he wanted to give the man the benefit of the doubt.

This was what he wanted. Suddenly I remembered his words of a conversation we'd had a while ago when the contentious subject of marriage and transformation had first been under debate; '_if I were human'_ he'd said…what had made him speak that wish? I replayed the conversation in my mind – ah, of course, the comment had been prompted by the fact that I was giving up any chance of motherhood. It disturbed him. He'd seen Esme and Rosalie have to cope with the loss of that exact opportunity and didn't think that I should, so willingly, forgo that possibility. Perhaps that was why I was so absurdly ready to cast myself as expecting in my glorious human-o-visions; because it was the most tangible benefit of humanity – the ability to procreate through love.

I sighed to myself. I wondered how much longer Edward would be. I wanted to, no, I needed to tell him that he had my full support no matter what he decided to do. Sure, there was a small part of me that was, to be honest, a little miffed. I'd been prepared to make the sacrifice, give up my life as human so that Edward and I would be together forever. That decision had not been easy! It had been long thought out, scary and I'd changed my mind like a million times but I'd finally got there. I'd married Edward so that he could be the one to do it…and now, maybe, all that gut wrenching, soul-searching agony was for nothing. I'd mentally prepared myself for immortality as much as one humanly could and now it looked very much like I would have to give up my dream, maybe, if things went Edward's way, which they usually did. (Okay, so my claim to have definitely reached the decision might be stretching the truth a little, yeah I know, I'm still in two minds and very much up in the air as to when the big event was going to actually happen. I'm having a rant. I don't have to be one hundred percent logical!). I felt myself getting hysterical.

Edward.

I thought of him, his beautiful hope-filled face and laughed at my own silly thoughts. If this worked out, I'd get to stay human, Edward would be exceptionally happy and I'd still get to be with him forever. If it didn't work? Well that would be another story all together….


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight** – **Change

A couple of hours later Edward and the man returned. The sun was low in the sky and I was in the kitchen cooking food I was pretending to be interested in eating. I hardly knew what I was doing but at least it had kept me busy while I waited. Edward seemed happy, excited; the man equally so. I just felt like I wanted to vomit.

"So, did you get all your questions answered?" I asked, displaying a level of nonchalance that was worthy of an Academy Award.

"Yes Bella," Edward said as he kissed me. "I asked him all the questions I had, and yours and he showed me all his research notes and results. He's been meticulous. His hypothesis is very sound. It is as I thought – no risk at all."

It was an easy explanation; safe and I didn't question it too closely. I trusted Edward and knew that he wouldn't do anything he didn't think was the right thing to do. It hit me in a blinding flash how exactly true that statement was; Edward had never really wanted to change me into a vampire, despite the marriage bargain. Maybe he was prepared to take this risk, risk his life, perhaps die, rather than go through with our pact. I shook my head. I was being ridiculous. I trusted Edward. I trusted him completely and I had to believe his earlier words – he would never do anything that would put 'us' in jeopardy. He was doing this for me.

I held Edward's hand tightly. I was afraid to let go. "So what happens now?' I managed to ask. My throat felt dry and I was lucky the words came out without getting stuck. Edward knew I was putting up a brave front. He smiled and kissed my brow.

"It's going to be fine Bella. He's mixing up the antidote and all I have to do is drink it. He says I should try and rest through the transformation process."

It sounded too easy to be real. Yet, oddly enough the simplicity of the procedure went someway to relieving my anxiety. I should have known better.

The medicine didn't take long to prepare. The man handed Edward a large beaker that held a generous quantity of dirty liquid that had a thick, sludgy texture, kind of like motor oil mixed with mud and it had a peculiar odour too. Edward sniffed the potion and looked at me with an expression that suggested that his vampire nose didn't find it any more appealing than I did. He mouthed the words "I love you" to me then began forcing the concoction down his throat. I could barely watch. I felt terrible and helpless. He gagged a couple of times, but Edward being Edward managed to muster all his dignity and self-control to keep drinking and drinking until the whole horrendous concoction was gone.

"Well done boy!" the man said as he slapped Edward on the back and took the receptacle from his hand, "That's the hard part done. Now it's just a matter of time, and to be honest, I'd be surprised if it takes very long at all."

We all looked at each other in silence for a moment as if expecting some sudden or instant reaction to occur. It didn't. The man started to fidget and twitch again. I didn't know if I should offer him some food or a seat or anything. I wanted to ask if he would be staying around to wait and see if the potion worked but it seemed too rude. If the truth be told, I really didn't want the man to stay. I was going to be watching my husband like a hawk and I hadn't either the time or the inclination to indulge in polite niceties with a complete stranger. Thankfully, the man didn't seem very keen on sitting around and waiting either. Suddenly he got up saying, "I'll leave you now, if you don't have any objections. I'll check back in the morning though, see how it's gone; I don't think my old ticker could stand a night of waiting; got things to do back at my shack, important things to do."

I didn't try and stop him from leaving. He muttered to himself all the while he packed up his ingredients and continued doing so until he went out the front door. I was glad to see the back of him and wondered, not for the first time, exactly why we trusted this crazy person with Edward's life?

Once the man was gone I looked at Edward critically. He'd lost his paleness. No, that wasn't quite true. He still looked pale only…now he looked rather grey instead of soft white.

"Do you feel okay?" I asked with obvious concern.

"My head is kind of spinning," he admitted. "I think I'll go upstairs and lie down. Don't fret Bella," he whispered in his most persuasive voice before heading up the stairs.

I'd never known Edward to ever have to lie down for any reason, let alone a spinning head. This was not good. I was about to race upstairs after him when I remembered the food simmering in the saucepan on the stovetop. It was burnt and beginning to smoke. I switched off the element and scraped the remnants into the bin before putting the pan in the sink to soak. Then I sprinted up the stairs with speed that would have made Edward proud (apart from the part where I tripped four steps from the top) to check on him.

He lay on the bed, still as a statue and for a moment I wasn't sure if he was just doing his vampire stillness thing or if it was something else. His pallor was even greyer than it had been before and I knew that this wasn't right. I went to the side of the bed, taking his hand in mine and whispered his name but got no response. I repeated it again but he just lay there completely unmoving. Was this part of the process I wondered? Why did he have to look so . . . so corpse-like? I didn't know what I should do. There was nothing I could do. I felt utterly helpless.

Without warning Edward's body started to convulse violently. My feelings of helplessness evaporated in an instant and were replaced by utter terror. I jumped to my feet and hovered over him unsure if I should try to restrain and calm him or just let him tremble uncontrollably until the paroxysm passed - If it passed. It was a hideous experience but nothing compared to Edward's suffering. Spasm after spasm wracked his body and caused enough pain to make him cry out in sheer agony. His eyes flickered opened periodically but he didn't see me; they were blind with torment. All I could do was stand beside him and speak his name and tell him that it was going to be alright – something I far from believed, but clung to never the less.

And this was how it went on hour after indeterminable hour. The sun set and rose again I don't know how many times, I ceased to notice. My life was on that bed suffering and I simply didn't care about anything else. The painful spasms came in cycles of varying intensity. Some were so violent that they were terrifying. I literally had to shove my knuckles between my teeth to stop from screaming. Others were less severe but seemed to go on and on forever. At some point I must have pulled a chair over to the side of the bed but I can't remember doing it. I sat there and didn't move, maintaining a vigil over him. I kept hold of his hand only letting go when a violent seizure would rip it from my grasp. I lay my head on the bed beside him, only allowing myself to rest my eyes in the lulls between attacks but snapping back upright and to attention as soon as a new tremor began. I cried and I prayed and I begged whoever in the universe might have been listening for my precious Edward to be alright.

Tears streamed down my face; it broke my heart watching him have to endure this never-ending torture. It should have been me! It would have been me if things hadn't changed so unexpectedly. This would have been me labouring through day after day of burning pain and Edward would have watched over me in helpless torment, feeling guilty, wishing it was otherwise. I'd felt the pain of being bitten, I knew the unbearable burning sensation it caused in human flesh. I hated the thought that Edward was in that kind of agony for me.

I completely lost track of time, night and day were blurred into one another. I was only vaguely aware that, at some point, the man returned to check on Edward's progress. He stammered and stuttered about miscalculating the time and intensity of the reaction. He began to apologise. He irritated me to the point of rudeness. I sent him away. I was abrupt and dismissive but I couldn't be sorry. Hovering annoyed me and I had no sympathy to spare for his petty, scientific concerns. Once he left, I didn't think of him again.

It must have been four, or maybe five days later that the paroxysms started to get worse, more violent and more frequent with less and less time lapsing in between events. It was horrendous and I wished there was some way I could offer him some peace and take away his pain. I continued to hold his hand and repeatedly told him that I loved him and promised him that it would all be over soon. His cries pierced the silence once more and they tore at my very soul; so full of pain and so obviously scraping at the last reserves of his nearly exhausted fortitude. For how much longer could it possibly continue? I prayed for it to stop.

But when it did it was my worst nightmares come true…

In the midst of a particularly hideous spasm Edward suddenly became completely still. It wasn't like the previous breaks. It was different. There were no twitches, Edward's eyes didn't flicker. His limbs were limp, all colour had drained from his face and he had a stillness that was so very different from the poised, statuesque stillness his vampire status naturally imbued. His hand flopped lifelessly and most disturbingly, sometime in the past few hours he'd lost the characteristic chill in his body temperature. Fear gripped me. My throat constricted. I could barely breathe.

"Edward," I whispered in a pathetic croak. I tried to repeat the entreaty but no sound materialised when I opened my mouth. My subconscious told me what was happening and I had no idea of what to do or how to prevent it. Edward couldn't be dead! This couldn't be happening. I shook his body lightly, then, after getting no response shook him again with considerably more force but still got no reaction other his arm rolling lifelessly to hang at his side. Tears sprang to my eyes, panic, fear and grief battled for supremacy. What should I do? How could I save my precious Edward? Out of nowhere, helplessness won. I crumpled against the weight of everything. Edward was dead and there was nothing I could do about it. I looked at him, lifeless and gone. I plunged into complete shock. This couldn't be happening! In a daze I sat beside him on the bed and began to cry tears of defeat and loss. I held his hand; I kissed it and held it against my cheek. It was not nearly enough. I lay my head down on Edward's unmoving chest and began to sob uncontrollably all the while clinging to his lifeless form.

I don't know how much time passed. Each second without Edward seemed like an eternity. But suddenly a strange sound silenced my tears.

_Thum_

I froze and listened intently for it to repeat. Just when I thought I'd been mistaken and not heard it at all the sound repeated.

_Thump _

No, not repeated; replied. I looked at Edward's Face frantically but saw no change. Quickly I placed my ear back against his chest and waited. I listened intently. A full minuet ticked by before I was finally rewarded with

_Thum_

Thirty long seconds passed before the answering

_Thump_

I kept my ear glued to his chest and thankfully didn't have to wait long before hearing another blessed

_Thum_

Fifteen seconds later…

_Thump_

Ten seconds

_Thum_

Five seconds

_Thump_

Two seconds

_Thum_

_Thump_

_Thum_

_Thump_

_Thum_

_Thump_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine – Breath

I sat up cautiously and slipped off the bed just in time to see Edward suddenly spring up and gasp loudly. He started fighting to take huge, deep breaths of air. He looked confused and distressed, like he was having difficulty with the sensation of air in his lungs.

"Edward?" I said cautiously, "Edward, it's alright. Breath slowly; don't fight it." I tried to sound as calm as possible, like I knew what I was talking about (I didn't). Of course he'd breathed before, but now apparently he actually needed the oxygen to fuel a fully functioning heart and he seemed to be having a little trouble adapting. I took a step closer as he still dragged in unnaturally deep breaths. I didn't want to startle him.

"Edward, are you okay?" It was a dumb, inane question but I wasn't really thinking too closely about my word choices. "How do you feel?" Oh yeah, another beauty.

His breathing slowly settled into a regular rhythm but it still looked like he had to think about what he was doing; Breath in, breath out. Actually, it was good to have a little reminder of that myself.

"Edward?"

"How- how do I feel? Strange."

"Is it an unwell kind of strange or more different strange?"

"Different…I don't feel unwell. There's a uncomfortable tingling sensation in my fingers and toes, and head for that matter, but that's the worst of it."

Pins and needles; blood, unused for over eighty years rushing into every corner of his body I supposed.

"Do you remember…everything…me?" I asked, finishing in a tiny voice.

Edward looked at me with his beautiful shining topaz eyes and gradually his breathing became normal. "Of course; You are my Bella."

Suddenly he gasped again. He'd forgotten that pesky breathing thing again. I suppressed a smile as I sat back down on the bed beside him.

"You'll get used to it soon. New born babies pick it up pretty quick. I'm sure you'll have it down in no time."

He had the good grace to laugh at my very lame joke even though there was still an obviously worried expression on his beautiful face. I tried to reassure him. "So it seems to have worked, this whole cure thing."

"Has it? Am I human?" Edward asked in a fierce whisper.

"I think it must have. I heard your heart beating."

Edward looked at me as though he didn't comprehend my words. "Did you? I can't hear it. I can't hear your heart beating either. It's gone."

"Not gone."

I picked up his hand and held it on my chest so that he could feel the steady thumping of my heart. Then I picked up his other hand and placed it over his newly reawakened heart to prove that it was working, that he truly was human. We both looked at each other in quiet awe when we realised that our hearts were beating in absolute unison.

Tears sprang to my eyes at the sheer beauty of this perfect moment. I looked at Edward and was stunned to see tears in his eyes as well.

"See, that's a very human thing to do," I told him, smiling through the wet mistiness.

"Very," he agrees quietly and wiped the moisture from his eyes. He looked at the slick of liquid on his finger tip with utter amazement and I realised that this was going to be fun – seeing him experience new things as a human practically the first time. He fell into my arms and I held him tight to my breast. I ran my hands along the contours of his back an arms, amazed at the soft fleshy feel. It was strange and foreign to me. I felt a sudden pang of loss. I missed the hard marbled body I knew so well. I wanted my familiar Edward back. I knew the thought was a betrayal and unfair but it was human – we can, afterall, be contrary sometimes. We like the known. And then I remembered the days of agony that my Edward had endured so that he might be human for me and just as suddenly as my irrational thoughts had arrived they vanished and I was consumed with love and gratitude for the wonderful man in my arms. I kissed the top of his head. Sure, he might feel unfamiliar physically but the feelings I felt for him were still exactly the same.

Edward pulled out of my embrace. "Sorry," he said then hastened to explain, "I'm not upset; quite the opposite. Becoming human again….it's almost too incredible to believe. I never, not even in my wildest dreams thought that this was remotely possible…I'm in shock and wonder."

"It is incredible," I agreed. "Your hands are warm."

"Are they?" Edward looked at his hands then opened and closed them a couple of times. He seemed to find that small fact amazing. He looked back at me and I nodded. Then he asked, "What colour are my eyes?"

I didn't quite understand why he was asking but replied, "Golden brown, same as they usually are."

"Really?"

I nodded again which caused Edward to spring off the bed and race to look in the mirror. I followed him to the bathroom.

"They used to be green before, I thought they might have changed back."

"Guess you're stuck with Cullen brown. Lucky for you they're pretty," I told him with a smile. I was actually kind of glad they hadn't changed back. It would have been very disconcerting looking into eyes I didn't know and at least this way, even amongst other differences I still had Edward's eyes.

"I have colour in my face!"

I didn't contradict him though even though the 'colour' he could see was barely perceptible - he was still incredibly pale. Seven decades of no sunshine couldn't be undone in the blink of an eye.

"Do I look the same to you?"

"Yeah, exactly the same; why, do you think you look different?"

"That's just it. I look the same but I feel so…."

"Different?"

"Yes.

"It's just going to take a some time to adjust I suppose."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I've grown use to having certain….abilities. It will be strange to live without them."

We left the bathroom and went back into the bedroom. Edward sat back down on the edge of the Bed. I sat beside him.

"So, what do you want to do now?" I asked the question without meeting his eyes. My thoughts had, naturally, headed in the direction of the big bed we were sitting on as I grew rapidly accustomed to the reality of my human husband and his warm body.

Edward smirked. "Well," he said, tracing spiralling patterns on the back of my hand. "You know what I'd really like to do?"

"What?" I breathed.

"Eat something. I'm absolutely starving."

Down in the kitchen I set to making pancakes while Edward eagerly sampled the range of foods at his immediate disposal.

"So this is the cereal you eat most mornings?" Edward asked as he shovelled a spoonful of cornflakes into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed then gave his assessment, "I don't get the appeal. It has no taste. What about those pop tart things you eat? Have we got any of those?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'll cook you a couple." I watched in amusement as he worked his way through the contents of the fridge sampling everything he came across from tropical fruits to tinned salmon to potato chips and double chocolate fudge cookie dough ice-cream.

I finished the pancakes and set them before him with butter and syrup and scrambled eggs and bacon and then watched him devour the lot. Yeah, he had the appetite of a seventeen year old male alright. It was quite a sight. Everything got a rapturous review but, to be honest, he wasn't the most discriminating of consumers.

"Food is different now. Before…before I was sick, food was nothing like any of this. It was very plain, simple. Why didn't you tell me that food is incredible?"

I laughed, enjoying immensely his enthusiasm and amazement at this stunning revelation. "You don't know the half of it;" I told him, "I can't wait to give you your first burger."

I noticed Edward's cell phone lying on the bench. I picked it up and examined the large screen. There were no missed calls and no messages. That struck me as odd.

"Why do you think we haven't heard from Alice?" I asked. Surely Alice would have seen a vision of Edward's suffering or indeed, foreseen his change to human? Edward finished his mouthful and considered my question for a moment before replying, "I'm not sure to be honest. She would have seen it, if she were looking. Perhaps she's deliberately not looking – it is our honeymoon after all. Perhaps other things are keeping her busy at the moment. Who knows?"

"So your news will be a surprise to them all."

"Yeah, I guess it will if Alice continues to give us privacy."

"When will we go home?"

"So eager for our holiday to end?"

"No – it's just…"

"I'm teasing. I know exactly what you mean. This is big news with big implications for my whole family. I'm excited to share it too."

"So we'll go sooner rather than later?"

"Once I'm sure there are no adverse reactions to the antidote."

"Reactions? You mean like side effects or unforseen consequences? Have you noticed any?"

"Not as yet but its only been a few hours and its better to make sure that nothing goes wrong or that it is indeed a permanent change."

"Are those things possible? You never said anything about that!"

"Calm down Bella. I'm sure everything is going to be fine. I feel fine, better than fine actually, but there can be no harm in waiting a couple of days just to be perfectly comfortable."

"No, you're right. I'm just freaking out unnecessarily."

Edward laughed and kept on eating. I kept watching….amazed just to see him devouring food with such gusto. He showed a decided preference for sweet, although, to be fair, I hadn't been able to produce a great array of savoury treats. I couldn't help but recall the one other time I'd seen him force human food down his throat – purely to demonstrate that it was possible. It had caused a look of revulsion that had been down-right comical. But this – his eating anything and everything he could lay his hands was comical on a whole other level.

"Done?" I asked as I began clearing the remnants and plates away.

"Yes. And I feel…decidedly uncomfortable."

"Is it any wonder? You just devoured a weeks worth of food in one sitting. You should go and lie down for a while."

Edward took my suggestion; when I turned around from the dishwasher he was not sitting at the kitchen table. So it seemed that he could obviously still move with deceptive silence despite the new humanity. After I was done cleaning up I went upstairs to find him and hoping that he wasn't too ill from the over-indulgence. I found him, in bed, fast asleep. For some reason the sight of him sleeping caused tears to spring to my eyes. God, was I going to be this foolish and sentimental over every little human thing he did? He did look beautiful though, exactly like an angel. I found myself sitting down in the chair that was still next to the bed and simply watched him sleep, fascinated by his deep breathing, his movements, his flickering eyes as he dreamt. I wondered what he dreamed of. He didn't talk though; that was good, I supposed, one sleep-talker in the family was quite enough. For how many hours I watched him sleep I do not know but it was fascinating. For the first time I had an inkling of what Edward had felt as he's watched me sleep. It made me feel very close him. Unlike Edward, when he was a vampire, I couldn't watch endlessly; I needed sleep too. At some point my head must have fallen to the mattress because, some hours later, I woke up stiff and uncomfortable from sleeping in such an awkward position. Edward was still in deep slumber but it was pitch black outside with the waning moon offering the only illumination. I got up, pulled the French doors shut and changed into my pyjamas before slipping between the sheets beside my beautiful, human husband. It gave me quite a shock not to feel the expected coolness of his body against mine. Usually it provided welcome relief against the tropical heat, yet there was something equally nice about this warmer frame too – I was not complaining at all. Despite the temperature I snuggled in close and listened to the sound of his deep even breaths and the rhythmic beating of his heart. Yes, there was something very nice about this indeed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten – Invaders

We slept late the next morning. When I finally pried my eyes open it was to discover that it was broad daylight and the clock was proclaiming it to be nearly nine in the morning. I had slept like a log, which I suppose, was understandable after five days of only sporadic dozing followed by the most amazing emotional high I'd ever experienced. I felt the space beside me and was surprised to find it empty. I went into instant panic, irrational yes, but true none the less. I sat up quickly and looked around the room but found no sign of Edward. I was about to jump up to search when the ensuite door opened and Edward emerged, freshly washed and shaven and wearing nothing but a towel.

"A human moment," he explained with a wry smile on his lips.

"So you are still human and I didn't just dream it all?"

"Well if you're dreaming, then I'm dreaming too."

I got out of bed and went to kiss him then realised that I could probably do with a few human moments myself. I slipped into the bathroom and ran a shower, which I completed in record time even though I washed my hair and cleaned my teeth. I slipped on the satin bathrobe that Alice supplied before heading back to the bedroom. Edward was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for me. He smiled at my entry and I went into his arms without hesitation. Kissing him was like a revelation. Soft lips that melded to mine perfectly and it was very nice not having to stop because my mouth was getting numb with cold. But suddenly Edward did exactly that. He stopped kissing me. I looked at him with a mix of concern and confusion that didn't dissipate with the sight of the serious expression on his face.

"There's someone in the house."

"What? I didn't hear anything." But then, I'd hardly been paying any attention to anything outside the bedroom.

But Edward shook his head, "No I didn't hear a sound. I can hear their thoughts." His expression was bleak…and disappointed. I wanted to ask more questions but the immediacy of our visitor took precedence. Edward sat still for a moment then looked at me with real fear.

"Get dressed, quickly and quietly," he urged in a serious whisper. "They don't know we're here yet. They're not friendly."

"They?" I asked then bolted for the walk in robe to locate clothes. Edward followed. "There are two of them. They heard about the island from our caretakers. They're curious, looking for mischief but, for the moment they've been distracted by the flat screen."

"So they are--"

"Yes, Vampires and we have to get away. Leave everything."

We were both dressed now. I looked around at the wardrobe full of clothes that Alice had provided but only grabbed my big leather handbag because that's where all our travel documents were. Edward took my hand and put his finger to his lips; as if I needed to be told to keep quiet. Though, my heart was beating so loudly I was sure it would be a dead give-away to an eager eared vampire.

With quiet speed we slipped out the French doors and down the back steps. I was hoping that our intruders were still distracted by the huge plasma television screen so they wouldn't observe our departure. Once clear of the house and safely behind the cover of lush vegetation we started to run as fast as we could to the docks where Edward's boat was moored. For the first time ever I missed vampire speed. I would have gladly traded the sickening fear of being caught by a couple of hungry vampires for the motion sickness that running at unbelievable high speeds invariably caused.

Finally the boat came into view.

"You hop on and wait, I'll be back in a moment."

"Edward, where are you going? Surely not back to the house!"

"No – to get the scientist; I've got to take him back to my family."

I didn't want him to go but I knew it was the right thing to do. "Of course, be quick!" I was ashamed that my first thought had been to just let the scientist fend for himself. I thought only of getting my newly vulnerable Edward to safety. But Edward was not as selfish as me. He thought of his family and the gift, the choice that the scientist could offer them all.

Edward vanished into the thick vegetation. I sat on the boat shaking in fear. I had enough experience with vampires to know what would happen if they found me, or worse, if they found Edward. Let's just say, it didn't make the waiting any easier. Each second seemed like an eternity and each moment I imagined some new and horrible thing that could be happening to him while I sat there being dumb and helpless just chewing my nails.

I'd completely decimated all the fingernails on one hand before finally, I saw Edward emerge from the foliage. He didn't look happy and he was alone. He saw my questioning expression.

"We don't have much time. I'll explain once we're clear."

He jumped up into the boat in one fluid motion and went straight to the ignition and started it up. It was noisy. I couldn't help wishing that it was quieter so that it wouldn't draw any attention to our departure. I noticed that Edward was breathing very heavily. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Stupid human lungs, stupid human speed," he said with a grimace

"What happened? Where is the scientist?"

Edward didn't answer straight away. He kept his eyes fixed on the ocean in front of us and concentrated on steering the speeding craft past the buoys and shipping markers. I looked back at the island, rapidly receding into the distance and saw two figures emerge onto the beach. I let out a gasp of shock and Edward instantly covered my hand with his in a gesture of reassurance.

"It's alright. They picked up our scent at the house but they were merely curious. Oh, don't get me wrong, if they'd found us they certainly would have killed us but they're not trackers, they're not going to try and chase us. They're too lazy; and full."

I breathed a sigh of relief and then remembered that Edward had arrived back at the boat alone. Instinctively I knew.

"They killed the scientist, didn't they."

"Yeah, he's dead and they ransacked his bungalow too; set it on fire."

"Oh my god, that poor man."

"They must have done it before they came to our house. There is nothing I could have done."

"I'm sorry. I know you wanted to help your family…" I stopped talking. It sounded like I didn't care at all that the scientist was dead. But I did, of course I did. I felt bad that he hadn't gotten to see the miracle his life's work had made possible. I felt bad that he didn't even know and that I had sent him away while Edward was in the torment of transition and of course, I wouldn't wish that terrible death on anyone. A tear trickled down my cheek.

"We're alive. We have to be thankful for that," I said trying to find a bright spot in this horrible situation. Edward just nodded. He was taking the scientist's death hard. I knew that he's seen great potential in bringing the poor man back to Forks with us and now that opportunity was lost forever and I knew that Edward's brand-new beating heart must be breaking.

"I managed to save one of his notebooks." Edward motioned towards a charred, leather bound book that was lying on the padded bench behind me. I hadn't noticed him carrying it when he came back; I'd been so focused on his face. "It's only a small portion of his work, but who knows, it might be useful."

"Useful?"

"I read his thoughts when he showed me his formulas. I have some understanding of his work and how he came to make his discoveries. Maybe…I could, I don't know…maybe the book will help."

We were silent for a minute, Edward still concentrating on driving the boat with a fierce expression etched on his face.

"So, you can still read minds hey?"

Edward's expression softened ever so slightly. "Yeah, that was unexpected."

"You sure you're human? I mean, it's not like, reversing or anything is it?" I wondered out loud, verbalising the thought that had just occurred to me.

Edward laughed.

I gave him a look; I thought the question was perfectly reasonable.

"I don't think its reversing, not if my lack of speed is anything to go by, and you know what? I think I'm unfit; running back to the boat darn nearly killed me."

Now it was my turn to laugh. Edward put his arm around my shoulder, pulled me close and drove with renewed speed towards the mainland.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven** – **Home

Three days later we were back in Forks. Surprisingly, we'd encountered no real problems getting home despite having no tickets or prior reservations. Edward was able to charm our way onto flights that were apparently full or about to take off. If fact, it has to be said that, apart from his not needing to feed on blood once or twice a week, nothing much had changed at all; Edward was still capable of 'dazzling' anyone he chose to and he still had the knack of getting his own way – in the nicest possible way, of course. He could still read minds and he still had me wrapped around his finger completely and utterly. So much for human frailty; no wonder Alice hadn't frantically worried about the huge change in direction for him, because, if she just happened to take a quick peek at our future, I'm pretty sure it would be nearly impossible to see that anything had changed at all!

And yet…I couldn't help but wonder how Edward was coping with the change. I knew he missed his exceptional speed and I could see that he was still getting used to the fact that he needed to take 'human moments' with stunning regularity. I had taken to watching him like a hawk looking for any sign of regret or discontent.

"I know what you're doing," He said to me as we waited for our very last connecting flight to Port Angeles.

"What?" I asked with mock innocence and not at all surprised that he had sussed out my not so subtle surveillance efforts.

"You've been watching my every move since we left the island…What you're trying to see, I don't know because if you're looking for any indication of dissatisfaction with my choice, you won't find it. I have never been happier. I will never regret this even if I were to be hit by a bus tomorrow."

I punched him playfully in the arm for that remark. I looked at my knuckles in wonder. It hadn't hurt a bit.

Still, by the time we'd landed in Port Angeles we were both noticeably nervous about returning to both our families; Charlie because I was unsure of the reception my homecoming would receive and the Cullen's because Edward had his huge nuclear bomb sized news to drop on them. We'd retrieved Edward's car from the airport garage and were headed back to town. We pulled up at an intersection. Going one way would take us to Forks and Charlie, going in the other would lead us to the Cullen's. I still couldn't quite believe that Alice hadn't appeared yet demanding to know what on earth was going on. Her apparent lack of foresight was kind of unnerving. Edward looked at me for a moment then turned the car in the direction of his parent's house. "Let's get this done, yeah?"

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Then we can come back and see Charlie, maybe have dinner with him."

"Okay. Can we raid the wardrobe at your place too? These jeans I bought at the airport are not great." They were bought on the spur of the moment in the airport in Florida. I hadn't fancied arriving back in the cold climate of Washington wearing nothing but the shorts and singlet I fled the island in. Sunny Miami hadn't offered much choice, so as a result the jeans were uncomfortable and didn't fit properly. Thank god for Alice and her obsession with buying me clothes!

"Yeah of course," Edward agreed, then added, "Not my place, our place at least until we go to Dartmouth."

The Cullen's house was quiet. I expected Alice to dance into view at any moment. But she didn't. We parked the car, got out and let ourselves in without raising the slightest murmur. Edward looked at me for a moment then frowned for a fraction of a second before taking my hand and leading me through to the main lounge room. I knew that he knew something. I didn't ask what, I'd find out soon enough.

We stepped into a room resonating with concern. Alice, slumped on the couch with a dazed expression on her face, was surrounded by the rest of the family. Jasper was at her side, Carlisle was kneeling beside her holding her hand, Esme sat on her other side stoking her hair and Emmett and Rosalie were standing close by, worry suffusing their beautiful faces. Nobody noticed us initially. It was only our rushing to Alice that alerted them to our homecoming.

What followed was very confusing:

"Alice, are you alright?"

"Edward!"

"Bella!"

"What happened?"

"Is Alice alright?"

"Why are you home so soon? We weren't expecting you."

"I know. A big shock."

"How come you didn't know?"

"I wasn't looking. I wasn't looking. I should have seen it coming."

"It wouldn't have changed anything."

"This is to do with you?"

"Alice?"

"Edward?"

"Bella?"

Everyone was talking at once and over the top of each other but I think it went something like this…

We arrived at the house and suddenly Alice was hit with a vision – us arriving home, swiftly followed by a image of me not becoming a vampire and Edward aging. Alice is not stupid, she knew exactly what that meant even of it seemed completely fanciful. It blew her out of the ballpark so to speak. She collapsed in shock which bought the rest of the family rushing in to see what was wrong. Next, Edward and I entered the room. We rushed forward to check on Alice too, asking about her condition at the same time. Alice exclaimed Edward's name, Esme adds mine, she's delighted to see us both. I asked, 'what happened?' but no one answered the question. Esme expressed her surprise to see us. Edward then answered Alice's silent thought which was probably something along the lines of 'so, you're human now.' Then Edward asks her how she didn't know sooner. As we suspected, Alice had been giving us privacy and had deliberately tuned out to all thoughts of us which included short, medium and long term visions of the future. Alice said she should have seen it coming and Rosalie and Jasper both, at the same time, jumped to the (correct) conclusion that Alice's collapse was due to something about Edward.

Five expectant faces, and one slightly resentful one turned their amber gazes on us.

"Alice had a vision and knows about something that happened while Bella and I were away," Edward began to explain. "While we were on the island, we met a man, a scientist who had heard of Carlisle, who was looking for the legendary vampires who don't consume human blood because…because he had a cure to offer us."

There was an audible gasp. Carlisle jumped up. Rosalie sat down. Edward continued talking. "In short, I am no longer a vampire. I am human once more. My heart beats, my body is flesh, I eat, I sleep. Hell, my fingernails grow! Smell the air and you'll see that it's true."

Six noses did exactly that, naturally in a subtle and elegant fashion. Six pairs of eyes widened and they grasped the reality of Edward's words.

"I wanted to bring him back, the scientist, so that you could all have the same choice I had…"

"But?" Rosalie interjected. I looked at her lovely face and saw the most pained expression I could ever have imagined. It was like she was crying only there were no tears and, as if to rub salt into her wound, I felt water fill my eyes and began to comprehend the depth of her pain and knowledge that she was doomed to be disappointed. I didn't want her to have to see me cry. I fled the room.

Once outside I slumped against he wall beside the doorway and let the tears run down my face. One sister felt like she's been betrayed and the other was about to get the biggest disappointment she would ever experience and I was too much of a coward to watch the fallout. Edward was brave. I could hear him finish the story from my hiding spot.

"Rosalie is right, there is a but. I hope you won't think badly of me when you hear the rest. I decided, rightly or wrongly, that rather than bring the man back here straight away, that I should test his theory while still on the island. I did it for Bella. I did it for me. But I also did it because I needed to know if it was real before I came home. I didn't want to offer false hope. Needless to say it worked – here I stand, a human man."

"Just like that?" Emmett asked snapping his fingers to illustrate his point.

"No, not just like that. It was a painful and arduous experience and even after it was done it took a day or so to recover from the process."

"So what happened to the man?" I heard Carlisle ask.

"Unfortunately, in a dreadful coincidence another pair of vampires had found their way onto the island. They killed the scientist. There was nothing I could do…"

I heard a piece of furniture smash to the ground at the same time as a mournful howl filled the air. Before I knew what was happening Rosalie was standing in the doorway raking her fingers through her gorgeous blonde hair in a gesture of despair. I tried to stifle a sob only to have it end up sounding like an unattractive snort. It alerted Rosalie to my presence and she looked at me, her expression desolate.

"I'm sorry," I said beginning to cry again. At first it was the only thing I could think of to say, but then the words came in an inarticulate rush. "I'm so sorry. I know that it's not fair. I'm sorry that we couldn't help you but please don't hate Edward. He so wanted to help you all more than anything and he wanted to be human for me and I can't help but think that if I had never… then things would have…and then maybe…"

I couldn't make my words make sense. I couldn't get out what I wanted to say but Rosalie seemed to understand. She actually came to me and put her hands on my shoulders and bent down so that she could look me straight in the eyes.

"Hey, I don't hate Edward. I know he tried his best. I won't lie to you; I am sad. That's as close as I'll ever get now." She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. It was always only a dream for me. A fantasy, that even though I sometimes thought about it, I never ever expected it to come true, so I'll be alright. I have Emmett and he quite enjoys our vampire existence. I certainly don't begrudge Edward his humanity. It's probably meant to be. Destiny, and all that, what with him loving you. This might surprise you Bella, but you know, if there had been a choice, if just of us had been able to get the cure, I'd have voted for Edward anyway. I always thought the idea of turning you into a vampire was one of the dumbest schemes ever. I would've hated you. Now at least we can be friends. Oh, and you have promise to let me hold your babies when you and Edward have some. I promise I won't eat them."

Rosalie actually hugged me for a moment and I hugged her back, finally feeling a sense of acceptance from her. She pulled away and looked at me with an appraising look in her eyes, "Ya know, I never did understand the appeal of your scent. Still don't."

I laughed at that and was about to agree with her, but before I had a chance to say anything, to even blink, Rosalie had disappeared, I didn't even know in which direction.

I wiped my eyes and found the courage to go back into the lounge. The conversation was muted. Jasper and Emmett were both shell-shocked and I suddenly realised that, for them, it was like losing a brother – not that he wouldn't be around, but that their boys only hunting trips would no longer include Edward, baseball would now lack one very valuable player, no more foot races, or competitive wrestling matches. I felt like crying all over again.

Alice was the worst though. Her pretty little face was so angry. She looked at Edward like he was a betrayer. She looked at me with such disappointment, like I'd promised to join her club only to renege at the last moment. How was I ever going to make it right with her?

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Edward said.

I wasn't sure whose internal thought he was answering

"You can still read minds!" Alice stated with an accusatory tone. She must have missed the fact in the confusion before. She got up and stormed from the room. Jasper followed and Emmett pleaded the excuse that he needed to check on Rosalie. I think they all just needed some space. Once we were alone with Carlisle and Esme, Edward asked with curiosity, "Why do you suppose that is, that I can still hear other people's thoughts?"

Carlisle considered the question before answering. "Eighty years of practice I suppose. This is how your brain works now," he offered by way of explanation. "Don't worry too much about your brothers and sisters – they will come round. I think Alice is a little disappointed that she didn't see it coming. She doesn't deal with surprises very well afterall. She will forgive you Edward."

"Have I done something that requires forgiveness?"

"Of course not," Esme interjected. "But Alice is hurting. You know she has no memory of her human existence and she loved you as a brother from the moment she met you. Probably before. She's afraid of losing you. Both of you."

"She won't." Edward was resolute.

"But there will be change. There has to be," Carlisle reminded him.

"Of course."

"Are you happy?" Esme asked, a motherly look of worry on her face.

Edward looked at me for a moment, his eyes tender and covered my hand with his own. "Never happier," he assured her.

"Then I am at peace with your decision. I want what's best for you Edward and, from the moment I met her, I knew that the best for you is Bella. This is the perfect solution for you both." Esme touched Edward's cheek and they smiled at one another.

"I did manage to save this though," Edward said as he pulled the charred notebook from my handbag. "Some of the scientist's notes. The rest were destroyed. I thought maybe you could look at them Carlisle…see if it might lead somewhere."

"This is his research?" Carlisle took the book with interest. "Leave it with me, I'm eager to read it."

"It's not complete, but maybe…"

"Let me read it, we'll discuss it later," Carlisle suggested. "Come back tomorrow Son."

"Come back?"

"Edward, you are human now. Your place is with the humans. We will always be your family, you will always be my son but your place is not with us now. You and Bella must build a life together, in the human world."

Carlisle was serious. Esme looked heartbroken, Edward was crushed and I felt terribly guilty but I think, deep down, we all knew that Carlisle was right.

I got up and took control of the situation. "You're right. We'll going to see Charlie now. I'm sure we'll be able to stay with him until we go to Dartmouth. We do understand."

Esme embraced first Edward, then me. Carlisle kissed my cheek and held Edward in his arms for a very long time. Then we left. We knew it would not be forever, heck, we'd be seeing them all tomorrow, but still… things had changed and now nothing would ever be the same again.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve – An Ordinary Life

Edward was quiet as we drove back to Forks. I wondered if his pronouncement that he would never regret his decision to become human had been a bit premature.

"Are you alright?" I asked in a quiet voice. He'd obviously been lost in thought because he turned to me with a slight frown creasing his brow, then smiled and took my hand in his.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking of how life's going to be quite different now. I wonder if I'll be a source of torment to Jasper. Who will hunt with Emmett when he wants to find hibernating grizzlies?" he paused, then added, "Will Alice ever forgive me?"

"She will. Of course she will." I hoped.

"You didn't hear her thoughts!"

"Rosalie handled it pretty well."

"Rosalie took the news better than any of them – how's that for ironic?"

"Better than any of them? Esme? Carlisle?" I thought they'd taken the news with commendable aplomb.

"No, they were genuinely happy. Although both shared natural concern for how this will alter the family dynamic. I hadn't thought too much about that, I must admit."

"All we can do is wait and see what happens," I suggested with what I hoped was sensible assurance, "I know that's not much of an answer, but it's the only answer there is. We'll see them tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that and the one after that and, eventually they'll see that you are still the same old Edward and we'll all work out a new way of relating to one another."

He looked at me for a long moment then leaned over and kissed me on the side of my mouth. "I love you."

"Uh – that's great, but, do you think you could get your eyes back on the road now."

Edward laughed and did exactly that.

We pulled up outside my house and suddenly I felt awfully conscious that we had no luggage. I didn't have time to ponder the problem as my dad must have heard the car pull up because he came out to meet us.

"Bells, you're home!" he called as he came down the front steps before pulling me into a tight embrace.

"Hey Dad." I said as I returned his hug. I hoped this meant I was forgiven. We weren't usually that, ah, demonstrative with our affections so when we broke apart we both looked at the ground with a certain awkwardness. It was silly. We were both obviously very happy to see the other but that's just us. I don't suppose we'll ever change.

Edward came around the car and joined us, holding out his hand to my father.

"Charlie."

"Edward."

They shook hands briefly. Okay, so it seemed that dad had forgiven me but Edward was still in his bad books. I had my own theory as to why this might be so. I don't think it was personal. I think my dad basically thought that Edward was a nice, decent guy. I think the dislike, the mistrust was more situational, if that makes sense. My theory was that dad remembered too much; he remembered all too clearly what I was like when Edward left. He remembered all the times I'd come to harm in Edward's vicinity. He remembered my seriously erratic flights from home that had been inspired by Edward. So it wasn't so much Edward that he didn't like so much as Edward's effect on me. And now all this was compounded by the fact that I and the person who caused my uncharacteristic behaviours, were now married and it was a marriage that, in my father's eyes, had an incredibly high statistical chance of failure and he was worried about what this might do to me and that it would be worse than the last time we had to go through such a trauma. And so, while I wished he had the same faith in Edward as I did, I could appreciate his misgivings where he was concerned.

"So, how was your trip?"

"Fine dad," I answered instantly blushing. Edward tried not to smirk. Charlie looked slightly uncomfortable.

"You're back sooner than I expected," My dad observed as we walked into the house.

"The weather," Edward supplied smoothly. I nearly burst out laughing at the excuse – we lived in a place where it rained 99.9 percent of the time and we're supposed to have let some bad weather drive us home from our honeymoon? He looked at me with mock sternness for a second then continued, "A series of dangerous tropical storms were forecast for the region. The place we were staying is not really equipped to deal with hurricanes. If we had stayed there was every chance we could have been stranded on the island for some weeks."

"Oh, well that's a shame." Funny, Charlie didn't seem too perturbed on our behalf.

"Oh, we don't mind," Edward added, "In three weeks we take possession of our house in New Hampshire so we thought we would prefer to spend the time here in Forks before we head across the country for college."

"You've rented a house already?" Charlie asked with surprised interest.

"Bought one actually," Edward corrected.

Charlie nodded his brusque approval. He might not like Edward overly much, but he couldn't argue that he was an efficient provider.

I went through to the kitchen to put the kettle on to make coffee for us all and as I looked through to the lounge to ask if either of them wanted cake with their coffee but my words were stopped by the sight of the photograph of me and Edward at our wedding that I'd given my dad framed and sitting on the mantelpiece above the fireplace. I smiled to myself and discovered that I was pretty pleased with my old man. He was one in a million. I left Edward and Dad talking about the very safe topic of sports and particular results and events that had occurred during the previous week and a half and put out the cake anyway, my two best guys deserved it.

"Coffees' ready!" I called and both dad and Edward came through to the kitchen quickly. Okay, so they still preferred me to be a buffer zone between them. They could only take so much one on one time together. We were all silent while we fixed our coffee the way we liked. Edward didn't really love the stuff but he drank it because it was a very human thing to do. I watched him with disguised amusement as he added another sugar to his cup. But I had a topic of conversation I needed to raise with my father and I had to bite the bullet and get it done.

"So, Dad, we were – uh, wondering if we could stay with you for a few weeks, just until we leave for college," I asked in the most matter-of-fact tone I could manage.

Dad was surprised and he didn't hide it. "Aren't you staying with the Cullen's?" It wasn't an auspicious start.

"We can't, um…" I didn't have a reason prepped

"Our early return caught my mother by surprise. She is in the process of refurbishing my room for us, it is uninhabitable at the moment." Edward lied silkily.

"Oh. Well, in that case, sure. It'll be nice to have you home for a little bit longer. Though I would have thought there'd be plenty of room in that big old house of yours Edward."

"We could probably squeeze in somewhere," Edward conceded. "But I think Esme fears that the surprise would be completely ruined if we were under her feet as she redecorated."

Charlie shrugged, "I suppose, so will Bella's room be big enough to would you rather—"

"My room will be fine dad!" I didn't want to put him out or make coming to stay here inconvenient. Besides, we'd made my small bedroom work quite nicely for the last couple of years, why rock the boat now?

"So where's your stuff, your luggage? In the car?"

Edward and I exchanged conspicuous glances. What the heck were we supposed to say now?

Suddenly there was a familiar musical voice calling out 'hello' from behind the screen door.

"Alice!" I cried with real relief as I literally ran to let her in and hugged her with all the strength I could summon.

"Get a grip Bella," Alice said with a wry smile and I knew myself only partially forgiven

"Dear sister." Edward greeted Alice with formal irony. She was only partially forgiven too.

"I just thought I'd pop over to see if you needed any help settling in or with unpacking your luggage." She looked out the door as she spoke. I followed her eyes and was relieved to see two large suitcases sitting and the rear wheel of Edward's car.

"That would be great," I replied with enthusiasm. "Unpacking is the worst part."

"I'll leave you kids to it then. I've just got to go down the station for a couple of hours," Charlie said as he picked up his hat and coat. "How about we go to the club for a home-coming dinner. Wanna join us Alice?"

"Thanks Charlie, but Jasper and I already have plans."

"Maybe next time."

Charlie left and Edward went out to the car to get the bags. Alice saw him lugging one bag up the front steps, rolled her eyes, then with hyper vampire speed, she raced out to the car, picked up the remaining suitcase, flew up the stairs and snatched the one that Edward was carrying from his grasp. She had them both inside before her brother had even got into the house.

"And you gave up being a vampire for what reason?" Alice questioned with patent disbelief. Edward scowled and, funnily enough, looked more vampiric than ever.

"All right you two, you're going to have to kiss and make up sometime – might as well be now," I said with frustration.

Neither budged.

"Fine. Come upstairs. Let's get these clothes put away before Charlie comes back."

I skipped up the stairs, leaving the other two to follow, first Alice with the bags and then a mutinous Edward.

I moved my clothes around to create some space for Edward's things. He sure did have a lot of stuff.

"How are the pair of you going to fit in here? You'll need a room this size just for the clothes I've got crammed into these cases," Alice said with disapproval.

'We'll be fine," Edward replied sternly as he flipped open one of the suitcases, looked for a moment then said, "This must be yours Bella and moved to the other case.

"Mine?"

"Alice shrugged. "I bought you a few things. I didn't send all of it on your honeymoon with you – thank goodness. When I think of all those pretty things being ripped to shreds by those nasty vampires, I could just scream."

I was terrified to look at the contents of the bag. My honeymoon packing had given me a reason to be distrustful of her choice in clothes. But, thankfully, the contents of this suitcase was much more practical – beautiful designer jeans, cashmere sweaters, pullovers and coats; much more 'Forks appropriate'. I didn't really need any of the clothes but I didn't want to offend my still miffed sister-in-law. I swallowed my objections and kissed her stony cheek and thanked her sincerely.

"Humph. You can't buy me off with insincere gratitude. I'm still cross."

I smiled at her rebellious countenance then, knowing she needed to get everything off her chest, said, "Okay Alice, let's hear it."

Without hesitation she obeyed my command. "I can't believe you did this Edward! You changed without telling any of us. You didn't even call Carlisle before you made the decision. You changed what you are and you couldn't even be bothered to forewarn us!"

"You're just annoyed because you didn't see it coming," Edward suggested with a hint of steel in his voice.

"Edward," I cautioned, it was better to let Alice have her say without letting this degenerate into an argument. "You wish he'd told you first?"

"It would have been nice. Polite."

Suddenly Edward was speaking vehemently, "I haven't! I won't!"

I looked at him questioningly. He shrugged and informed me, "She thinks I've abandoned the family."

"But you have. You will. I've seen it Edward, It's going to happen."

"No!'

"Edward would never—" I began to say in defence of my husband but that only drew attention to myself.

"And you! You were supposed to become one of us! Be my sister, forever. You and Edward and Jasper and me, it was going to be so great, and now…"

If my lovely sister had been able to cry she'd have been in floods of tears by now. Edward stopped his furious unpacking, looked at Alice with unfathomable emotion and whispered, "I didn't do it to hurt you. I did it to save Bella. This was a decision made out of love not disloyalty or abandonment. I know you don't remember being human, hell Alice, your human years sound like they're best forgotten. But Bella's life is not like that. She has a family and people who love her and potential to be whatever she chooses. And I'm sorry to say, these are things you were robbed of long before you were turned into a vampire. Bella is my world and if me becoming human meant I didn't have to kill her, I would do it again each and every time whether you hate me for it or not. I'll always love you though."

"but you'll die, both of you."

"Yes; which is as it should be."

Alice looked pained and Edward went to her and put his arms around her. They held each other tightly and I was relieved that they'd made their peace.

"Okay," Alice finally said, "I'm going to try and be more understanding. You're human, both of you – It's weird. It's bizarre, but I'm going to get used to it.'

She left soon after that. I was relieved and happy that she'd made the effort to come and see us even though she probably would have preferred to stay angry or ignore us entirely. But we'd made a good start this afternoon and now I was pretty sure that she'd be very helpful in allaying the doubts and misgivings of the rest of the family too. As promised, we went to dinner with Charlie. I couldn't help but notice that my Dad watched Edward eat with fascinated interest. It was not something that Edward had ever really done; sit down to a meal with us. He'd routinely excused himself as soon as food was put on the table. I was worried that the small cosmetic changes in Edward's behaviour were too obvious and that Charlie would notice too much. Even though my father's scrutiny made me kind of edgy I knew there was nothing to worry about. What was he going to say? 'So Edward, what happened? Did you change species since I last saw you?' Not likely. Hopefully he just thought it was because we were married; now Edward had no choice but to eat with us.

Later, Edward and I were tucked up cosily in my little bed. It was beautifully familiar; Edward lying beside me, us kissing for a while until one of us (usually Edward) decided that we'd pushed the bounds of restraint far enough for one night. Except tonight I wasn't so much into the kissing.

"What's wrong?" Edward wondered as he failed to get the desired effect from his mouth on mine.

"It's just weird. Charlie's downstairs!"

"I've spent many a night in this very position with your father in the house the whole time. Why is it suddenly bothering you now? Usually you're fairly keen," he teased gently.

"Yes but now he knows you're up here with me – before he didn't. What must he be thinking?"

Edward smirked. 'Truthfully, he's trying desperately hard not to think about it. He wants to go up to bed but he's worried about what he might hear."

"Ugh!" I rolled over onto my side and Edward spooned in behind me. "Can't you pretend to snore or something?"

Edward laughed softly and kissed my neck below my ear. "Go to sleep Bella. Oh, that's nice of him."

"What?"

"He's resolved to go fishing for the week-end. We'll have the place to ourselves."

I slept the seep of the dead that night. The emotional stress of our flight from the island, the return journey and breaking the news of Edward's change to the Cullen's must have finally caught up with me. I woke late, still yawning and alone. I went downstairs and found Edward cooking eggs and Charlie looking pleased that he had shown such initiative. Charlie was easy prey for anyone who wanted to sweeten him up with food.

"Morning Bells," Charlie said as I sat down at the table. Edward kissed the top of my head as he put a plate of eggs and toast in front of me then sat down in the vacant chair beside me.

"So, what have you kids got planned for the next couple of weeks?" Charlies asked between mouthfuls.

"Planning our move mostly," Edward answered. "We've got to pack. That will be quite a task. And then we'll have to organise transportation of our belongings."

"And finalising our enrolment, we'd better take care of that too."

"Of course we'll see my family..."

"And I need to catch up with Angela too."

Charlie nodded, "Well that should keep you busy."

"Yeah, but other than that we'll probably just be hanging around."

"Hanging around," Charlie repeated dryly. I think he thought that I meant 'hanging around' as a euphemism for something else. "Well I'm going fishing for the weekend with Billy. You'll have the place to yourselves for a couple of days. I'm also pretty busy at work so I won't get in your way while you…hang around."

Edward was trying not to laugh. I did not want to know what my father was thinking!

"Um, speaking of Billy, you should go and see Jacob sometime. He's been asking after you."

"Subtle Dad."

"He's been a good friend to you Bells, don't forget about him just because you're married and heading off to a fancy college."

"Yeah, I'll go down and see him in the next few days."

"Okay. I'm heading down there now. I'll tell him to expect you."

Charlie gathered his fishing gear and packed some supplies for a week-end of fishing then left. I waved him off and watched his truck disappear from view. Meanwhile, Edward had cleaned the kitchen and came to find me where I was sitting on the front steps.

"I'm just thinking that I'm a really crappy friend."

"You're too hard on yourself. We've only been back a day and we have had other things to deal with."

"Yeah, but I didn't even think of him, not till my Dad mentioned his name. And I really should ring my mother too. Add crap daughter to that list."

Edward pulled me close and I looked up into his face and kissed him lovingly. Then I went in and phoned my Mom.

We had a long chat, she telling me about Phil's latest mishap and the new yoga slash meditation group she'd joined. I gave her a much scaled back version of our honeymoon. It was nice. There was no fighting and no dire warnings, it was just like old times. Once we were done I went to find Edward; he was pouring over the literature Dartmouth had sent.

"Mom says hi. She can't believe we're spending these weeks with Charlie when we could be anywhere else. She thinks you must be mad, or very tolerant."

Edward laughed. "That's not far from what your father was thinking either when you asked to stay here. You should have heard his thoughts at breakfast…"

I quickly put my hands over my ears, "I don't want to know!"

We were still laughing about it when a voice interrupted our hilarity.

"So you are back. Honeymoon not everything it was cracked up to be?"

"Jake!" I ignored his sarcastic greeting instead saying, 'It's so great to see you." I went to hug him. He stiffened visibly. I hugged him anyway. He relaxed and returned the embrace.

"What?"

"You're still…you're still you."

"Of course I am. What did you think was going to happen?"

"That he bit you and then you'd slaughtered a village in Chile or wherever it was you went and so you came back early to avoid making any more mistakes."

"Yeah, I'm out of control and living with my Dad. You're mental."

"Sure, sure, but this is what you've got me imagining Bella."

"Well I'm not a vampire."

"Yet…"

"So you know about me and Edward getting married?"

"Yeah, your dad came down and told us all about it after you left on your honeymoon. Thanks for the invite, by the way."

"It was small, only a couple of guests. I wanted only people who were happy for us to be there. Sorry, didn't think you'd qualify."

"So that's one big day done, when's the next one?"

At this point in the conversation Edward stepped forward and held out his hand, "Jacob. It's good to see you."

Jacob's face showed obvious distaste at the thought of shaking Edward's hand. But manfully, he did it anyway. Suddenly the expression on his face changed. The aversion changed into suspicion. He took a step back, then took an obvious sniff of the air in front of him, processed the information garnered for a moment and then his mouth fell open. He was completely dumbfounded. He swore forcefully then demanded, "What the hell? How the f**k did you do it?"

"Language Jacob," Edward censored, enjoying the moment of triumph way too much.

"You're not a vampire anymore! You smell…"

"Human," I supplied with an affirmative nod.

Jacob looked from one of us to the other in complete shock. He fell to the couch and said, "well, you'd better tell me the whole story now.'

So we did. It sounded unbelievable even to my ears and I'd witnessed the whole thing; I could readily understand why Jacob was in a stunned state of astonishment.

"That is…freaking incredible! If I couldn't smell it I wouldn't believe it." Jacob said still shaking his head in bemusement. "Too bad really, I liked you being a bloodsucker; I was sure Bella would come to her senses at the last minute and you'd have to piss off again. Now I guess she's stuck with you."

"Jacob!"

"Ah, come on Bells, he can take a joke. I'm glad you won't be getting, um, changed anytime soon."

"I highly doubt it!" Edward said at his haughty best to Jacob, an arched brow showing his displeasure.

"What?"

"What!"

Jacob and I both said the same word at the same time though with totally different inflection.

"Jacob was just thinking that now the playing field has been evened out and that without the…lure; was that the word you used? Yes? Without the lure of vampirism it will only be a matter of time before you see me for the jerk I am and give me the flick."

"I highly doubt it," I replied, using Edward's exact wording to phrase my rejection of the notion.

"I wasn't serious," Jacob explained sulkily, "I never would have said anything. How the hell was I supposed to know he could still read minds?"

Suddenly I wished that Jacob could meet someone, a nice girl who would be understanding and accepting of his situation. He was still so young, despite his hulking frame and mature countenance. He was really still a boy. Suddenly I felt so much older than him.

Later, after Jacob had left we went to visit the Cullen's. The task of trying to decide what to take out of 100 years of accumulated possessions was exhaustive. My packing was a snap; the sum total of my things would maybe fill two or three suitcases but Edward's things would fill a truck all by themselves. Plus, Esme kept suggesting other things to take, like the grand piano, various works of art and certain appliances that had been purchased purely for my benefit anyway. Emmett and Jasper were helpful too, in moving heavy boxes and their speed helped in reducing the time it took to get the packing done. They teased Edward mercilessly about his loss of strength and speed. He took it with good grace. I left the three of them to it figuring that it would be a good opportunity for them to sort out how this new situation was going to work.

I mostly hung out with Alice and Esme and talked. Rosalie came and went she was busy refurbishing a vintage car and was lamenting the inconvenience of a particular missing part. I wished she and Jacob could be friends. They had more in common than either of them could ever imagine. I also knew from past experience that Jake had the instincts of a bloodhound when scavenging for parts; maybe someday…

Alice and Esme were abuzz with excitement for a new project they were developing. It was a business venture of sorts, a foundation that would use some of the accumulated Cullen wealth to help the underprivileged. Alice's future sight made the acquisition of wealth ridiculously easy and as she and Jasper had elected not to go to college for the time being, they'd decided to put some of that money to good use. They were in the process of setting up a web site and registering as a charitable institution. Both the founders were very enthusiastic and it was hard not to get caught up in their excitement, especially with Alice saying that I should come and work for them once I'd finished college.

"Do you really see that?" I asked, partially excited, partially suspicious of the idea.

"No, I don't see it. Not yet. You've still got to decide on the direction you'll take at college, let alone a career."

I laughed. It was true. I had to give that college information some more attention. Yes I'd chosen my subjects, but I hadn't done anything about registering for them. Maybe I'd be more motivated if I didn't feel like a fraud. Why Dartmouth? But, on the other hand, who was I to look an Ivy League gift horse in the mouth? It was a great school for Edward and where he went, naturally, I would follow.

Later in the afternoon I went to find Edward. I found him in his father's study. He and Carlisle were involved in a deep conversation regarding scientific principles and chemistry. One word caught my attention; 'venom'. I knew they were discussing the cure. My suspicion was confirmed when I saw the singed notebook open and under scrutiny.

"Are you going to try and recreate it? I asked them as I sat down beside Edward.

"Maybe, there are a lot of holes to try and fill," Carlisle replied. "This is not something we could reproduce overnight. It might require years of work…commitment."

"Between the two of us I'm sure we could find the answer," Edward suggested with evident enthusiasm.

"Edward," Carlisle cautioned, "You told me yourself that the man who formulated the anti-venom went mad, sacrificed everything in his quest for the formula. You have a life now, opportunities. You must think very carefully before you put all that in jeopardy in the pursuit of a pipe dream."

"A pipe dream?"

"Edward, did you ever think that this all happened to you for a reason? It didn't happen to me, or to Rosalie. It happened to you. Maybe this is a mystery that doesn't need solving."

"But—"

"I know you want us all to have the same choice you had but perhaps this is the way it's supposed to be. You're the one who fell in love with a human girl. You're the one the scientist found. Your mother and me, your brothers and sisters – we're all relatively happy in our own way. This is not worth throwing your life away over.

"Not worth— how can you say that?"

Carlisle reached out and shut the book. "Think over what I've said.

Edward and I went home soon afterwards. Edward was quiet but I didn't force him to talk about what was on his mind. I cooked dinner and we ate in companionable silence then went up to bed even though it was still relatively early. It was lovely to crawl into our little bed and into Edward's waiting arms.

"It feels like so long since I held you," he murmured.

"Like a lifetime."

He kissed my forehead and my cheek then found my waiting mouth and once again I was reminded of how different it was kissing him human as opposed to when he was a vampire. His lips were warm and soft and pliant and it was absolutely lovely and wonderful but I still had to open my eyes for a second to check that I was kissing the right person. I found two hooded amber eyes looking back at me. I caught my breath. It was the most forceful, most beautiful reminder that I was indeed kissing my Edward even if the feel of his mouth on mine was sort of a new experience.

"Am I doing it right?" Edward asked quietly.

"What?" Had my stupid thoughts been so obvious?

"This – kissing, I mean. Is it as good as it was before…?"

He let his sentence trail off and I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Of course it is," I protested a little too vehemently, then took a breath, calmed my thoughts and replied properly. "You are, as always an excellent kisser. It's just that I'm used to you feeling, um, different. But I assure you I'm getting used to it very quickly…Is it different for you?"

Edward thought for a moment then answered. "It feels— better, like we really match now, if that makes sense."

It did. I always felt we matched but still, I knew exactly what he meant and to prove it I sought his mouth again to continue what we'd already begun.

It felt almost like the first time all over again. Like we were doing something completely new even though we'd become very well acquainted with each others body during our honeymoon. Each moment was a discovery, a revelation, all over again. Edward's new body was fascinating. Instead of coolness, now it enveloped me with warmth and it was intriguing to touch and explore the softer feel of the toned contours of his body. I trembled as he touched me in return; yes, there was definitely something to be said for a warm hand as opposed to a cold one.

"Edward."

With the whisper of his name he covered my body with his own. I watched his face as our bodies became one and saw that this was a completely new experience for him. His face was filled with amazement. It made our love-making all the more incredible. It was different for me too. There was no underlying fear that I might end up inconveniently dead. I felt uninhibited and safe, maybe because this place, this bed, was the scene of so many intimate moments between us. It felt completely natural to be here sharing this amazing experience. Edward and me in my bed; It was all my fantasies come true at once.

Edward's expression changed suddenly. Agony and ecstasy suffused his features only this time he didn't have to flee from the temptation to bite me. Now he thrust faster, compellingly me to go with him to the edge of rapture. I shuddered beneath him; experiencing an intensity of pleasure I'd never imagined possible. I looked at my beautiful husband through half-closed eyes, breathing heavily while a satisfied smile haunted my lips and marvelled as he too experienced the culmination of our loving. He collapsed with spent exhaustion and kissed my throat and jaw line before rolling to my side and pulling me close. He was breathing heavily too and looking at me in wonder.

"That was…"

"Amazing. I know."

"Not that it wasn't good before but—"

"I know."

"This is the way it's supposed to be. It feels more…complete, if that makes sense."

"It does. You got to feel the climax too and you didn't have to leave, that's a bit of a bonus too."

"Is it supposed to make you so exhausted?"

"Yeah, I think it is."

We laughed and held each other close and fell asleep together in a cloud of contentment.

Life resumed a normal pace from then on. We fell into regular routines. We visited Edward's family most days. Alice took me shopping, playing dress-ups as usual. Esme helped me pour over multitudinous mail order catalogues looking at furniture for our new house. We finally got all our subjects picked and our university schedules sorted out as well as completed our registration. The fact that we really were going off to that fancy college finally began to sink in. Edward was going to go to medical school (again) he didn't mind redoing the course because the field of medical science is fast paced and ever changing. It had been a while since he'd updated his skills. And of course, this time he could take a different approach, be more hands on and be actually involved with people and patients. Charlie, Edward and I rattled along nicely too. Thankfully, Dad had stopped running in fear and finding other things to do just in case he intruded on us having loud, obnoxious, honeymoon sex. Not that we ever did; Edward and I had learnt to be very quiet whilst otherwise engaged. Charlie had gradually grown more comfortable with the situation and so had we. It had got to the point now that the three of us were quite companionable and Dad often remarked that he would miss us when we went away. Charlie had even gone so far as to invite Edward to go fishing with him. Dad didn't really want to ask and Edward didn't really want to go but they went and even though, by the rather slim accounts I'd received, they each hated every moment of it; they still deserved credit for trying. They only did it for me so I couldn't help but be grateful to them. We'd made a lot of progress, but some aspects still required baby steps. I don't know if Charlie would ever fully forgive Edward for the runaway marriage, for breaking my heart or just for entering my life with the force of a volcanic eruption. And of course Edward could read all his thoughts and knew what he was really thinking, which didn't really help a whole lot. Sometimes it seemed convenient to be able to read minds but really, I didn't envy him that particular skill. I tried not to think about the underlying mechanics too much. Instead I just chose to concentrate on the fact that they were making an effort to get along, even if it was only for my sake.

Jacob seemed better too since he'd found out that Edward was now human. His demeanour towards me changed. I think he began to look on me as quite the old married woman, almost like a sister. I was happy with the change. I didn't miss the unrequited love at all and it was great to just 'hang' out with him again, the way we had in the summer that Edward had vanished. And while I don't think Edward and Jacob would ever be best buds, no objections were ever raised if I decided to pay a visit down to La Push and they tolerated each other quite admirably if Jacob spent a day with me in Forks. I could live with that.

Naturally, the town had very much enjoyed the scandal of Edward and me running off to get married once the news started to spread around. Consequently, we were the fodder for gossip and innuendo for a number of days which was a little hard to bear, but thankfully, that too passed when something new and more exciting cropped up (the theft of a canoe from outside the Newton's store in broad daylight proved to be a surprisingly adequate distraction). So with a week to go until we were to leave for college everything was pretty much peachy. Until Alice arrived at the house one morning after Charlie had left for work. She said one word – "Volturi"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen – Strategy

"Carlisle wants to see us all. He sent me round to get you."

No sooner had Alice issues the invitation and we were out the door and on our way to the Cullen's house. Alice looked paler than usual (if that was possible) and seemed quite shaken by her vision; she was very subdued.

This was not good. This was not good. In my newly-wedded bliss I had completely forgotten about the Volturi and their menacing threats. On our last meeting they had promised to make a trip to Forks to ensure that I had become a vampire, or alternatively, to kill me if I wasn't. Trouble was, they hadn't said exactly when they would be coming; it was too easy to get lulled into a false sense of security, what with their silence and the exciting things that had been happening in my life. Now I was in big trouble. I was not a vampire and I didn't plan on becoming one any time soon, but the worse part was that Edward was in danger now too. Holy crap! Aro and his brethren would not be happy campers when they found out that Edward was no longer a vampire and that he had undergone an experimental procedure to 'cure' him of the affliction. The realisation made me sick to the stomach. This was not good.

The Volturi; just the thought of them made my blood run cold. They were the unofficial monarchs of the vampire world. Arbiters of vampire law, they held unrivalled power and were crossed at ones own peril. When we'd first come across them some time ago, apart from not being at all pleased to find that me, a mere mortal was privy to the secrets of vampires, they had tried to coerce Edward and Alice into joining their select fold. Aro had a fondness for vampires with special abilities. Edward and Alice were intriguing to him. He coveted their gifts and sought to have the powerful talents under his watchful eye, under his control, where he could make certain that they would not became a threat to his supremacy. Edward and Alice had declined the invitation. And now all I could think was that this visit was going to mean a reissue of the request and what that might mean for Alice and Edward I didn't like to think.

"What do we do now?" I asked in voice that despite all my efforts, betrayed my very real terror at this new development. Neither Edward nor Alice answered. I wasn't sure they'd even heard me. Edward was looking at her intently and Alice's face held a grim expression. I realised that she was letting him see everything that she had foreseen.

"That is not going to happen!" Edward said firmly after a particularly pained expression etched Alice's face.

"No, not if we can help it" Alice replied, though to my ears she seemed less certain than her brother had.

I didn't ask for an explanation of their cryptic comments. I didn't want to know.

Once we'd arrived at the Cullen's we made our way to the dining room. Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie were all sitting at the table looking grim. Emmett was pacing the floor obviously unable to stand still. It was only when the three of us took our places at the table that Jasper came from elsewhere in the house to join the family. Instantly the tension diminished, and we all became visibly calmer. Jasper's powers were at work and seriously, they'd never been more welcome. We needed to discuss this alarming development without fear and trepidation becoming too distracting. Oh, don't get me wrong, I, and everyone else were still deathly scared, but Jasper's emotional control provided a buffer which enabled us all to think more clearly and rationally. We all looked expectantly at Carlisle. He'd know what to do… wouldn't he?

"As you all know, Alice had had a very serious vision this morning. She has seen that the Volturi are on their way to Forks to pay us a visit."

"To check if Bella is a vampire yet?" Esme asked with a concerned glance at me and Edward.

"Yes, that is the reason they a using for their visit," Carlisle replied. "But, Alice, I think it would be easier if you told everyone exactly whet you saw in your vision."

Alice looked sickened. "Are you sure?"

Carlisle nodded with surety at his youngest daughter. Thus encouraged Alice took a moment, then spoke. "This morning I was hit by a vision. In it I saw all of us…dead. Edward and Bella were bitten and bloodied and the rest of us were dismembered, ripped to little pieces and strewn all over this very room. Aro, Caius, Jane and Alec stand over our remains satisfied with all that they see. Aro says something about accomplishing his goal before they set the room on fire and leave. And that is everything I saw."

Everyone was silent for a moment but all the while my mind was racing. It didn't make sense. "Why would the Volturi take such extreme action just because I'm not a vampire?" I asked still trying to understand why my non-compliance with their orders would result in the deaths of the entire Cullen family. This was my worse nightmare about to come true.

"No, you're right Bella," Carlisle agreed, "it does seem to be a rather excessive response to your situation. Considering this, it is my belief that the Volturi coming to check if you have undergone conversion is merely a pretext for their real objective." He paused for a moment; we all looked at him in anticipation. "I believe that the Volturi want to destroy this family."

Exclamations and questions broke out. We all spoke at the same time but our thoughts and queries all shared a similar theme - Why? Carlisle held up his hand to silence the hum. "I know it is shocking and quite bizarre but I think that the Volturi are threatened by our existence, our numbers and our influence. They are under the impression that we are after their position and power."

"That is utterly ridiculous!" Esme exclaimed, "They would come here and murder us because they think we are trying to take over from them?"

"Exactly!"

"How could they see us as threat to them?" Rosalie demanded angrily.

"Those who prize power above everything else find it very difficult to understand that others do not hunger for it," Carlisle explained rationally. "I have long suspected that they were looking for excuses to take some action against us and I would suggest that finding that we had dealt with the newborn vampire army was the last straw for them. From their perspective it seems very much like we are setting ourselves up as upholders of the law in opposition to them. They don't understand that we only acted in self-preservation when one of our own was threatened. They don't understand our way of life so they fear us."

"And because they fear us they want to destroy us." Emmett confirmed with a steel edge to his voice.

"What do we do?" Edward asked. "Should Bella and I leave so that the excuse for their coming is void?"

"They will only hunt you down, " Carlisle replied. "The last thing I want is for you and Bella to spend your lives running from their threats and menace."

"So we try and negotiate with them. We clearly and calmly spell out our situation, explain that we do not want their position," Esme suggested firmly.

This proposal generated murmurs of agreement. Except from Alice;

"What I saw in my vision, all of us dead, it is the result of us trying to negotiate with them," she said quietly.

Everyone went silent. The Cullen's were a peaceful clan. They avoided violence wherever possible. In all the years I'd known them I'd only seen them resort to physical confrontations in the most dire of circumstances. The news that their non-violent approach to their vampiric life would result in all our deaths was shattering to us all.

"So what happens if we take them on in a fight?" Emmett demanded, "Does that have a different outcome Alice?"

Alice closed her eyes and concentrated. A frown appeared on her brow as she tried to divine our collective fate. After a minute or so she opened her eyes again. The frown was still there. "The vision is not clear, but from what I can see the outcome is not any better. We still die. We don't stand a chance against them."

"Some choice! We die fighting or we die trying to negotiate. That's just great" Rosalie fumed with renewed anger.

"There is another way," Jasper suggested quietly and seven pairs of eyes turned anxiously towards him.

"Perhaps we should try some guerrilla tactics. We used to employ them with great success during my army days, particularly in the vampire wars. See, we know they're coming right? So, perhaps it would be possible to intercept them before they get anywhere near forks and, well, eliminate some of the key members of their guard in order to weaken them before they get to us."

"Wouldn't that just make them angrier? Emmett queried

Jasper shrugged. "True, but their fairly angry at us already; we have nothing to lose by at least considering another course of action."

"What would we do? What is the strategy?" Edward asked

"Alice would have to concentrate all her mental efforts on tracking the Volturi. Once she knows where they will be in the hours prior to their actual arrival in Forks we go to them. We look for an opportunity to isolate particular individuals from their group and that is when we would make our move. Take them out quickly and efficiently, leaving no sign that we were ever there. We would have to accomplish our objectives in one night and return to Forks before they discover their loss."

"It sounds very risky," Esme observed with obvious doubt.

"It is risky. But the reward could be huge. Our lives depend on it."

"So who would…?" I began to ask only to have Jasper cut me off mid question

"All of us. Each and every one of us will have to play a part. It has to be all of us or none of us."

"Then there's no choice, we must give Jasper's strategy a go," Edward said with decision.

"What do you see Alice?" Rosalie asked, "What if we decide to try Jasper's suggestion?"

Again Alice closed her eyes. The frown became particularly pronounced as she tried to isolate a possible change in circumstances. She sat there for a long time, her facial expression mirroring the difficulties she was having in garnering any conclusive information. Suddenly her eyes flew open in surprise and she said with a ghost of a smile, "Well, I don't see us all in a burning heap, if that's any consolation."

"What do you see Alice?" Carlisle begged

"It's unclear. There's something, a person or a choice, clouding my sight of the outcome. I don't know who that person is or what choice they are going to make so I can't see the possibilities. I'm sorry, that doesn't make our decision any easier."

"What decision is there to make? We have no chance if we choose to talk, and we have no chance if we choose to fight at least this way offers us a chance at survival. Even if it is a slim chance, surely that is better than none," Edward said with passion.

Emmett nodded in agreement, Rosalie joined in. I took Edwards hand and said I would help any way I could even though I didn't see how I could be of any use in vampire espionage. Carlisle and Esme exchanged a lingering glance before Esme nodded briefly and Carlisle said, "Okay Jasper, we're in your hands, let's talk strategy."

The Family meeting had gone long into the night and we'd gone over and over the plan until we knew it backwards, forwards and sideways and then… we waited while Alice spent every moment with her mind's eye focused squarely on the Volturi and waiting for her to tell us when we could make our move. In the meantime, Carlisle and Edward had gone down to La Push to inform the pack of the Volturi's imminent arrival. Caius was infamous for his dislike of werewolves and Carlisle was of the opinion that the wolves were in danger, particularly because they'd been seen allied with us in the battle against the newborns. To our surprise and, might I add, extreme relief, they decided to assist us in our quest. They didn't have a problem with taking the fight to the Volturi like some of us did. Carlisle, even though he'd agreed to the assassination plot, still wrestled internally with the morality of the plan. It was at odds with his beliefs, his personal philosophy not to kill but ultimately he had to concede that it was the only way other than meekly accepting the death sentence that was hanging over our heads. I had my doubts too. It seemed infinitely more sensible for me and my newly-human, newly vulnerable husband to run and hide and get lost amongst the six billion other human beings who walked the earth and about whose existence the Volturi didn't give a snap. We could go somewhere hot where the sun was always shining; the Sahara desert, sunny Acapulco or the Fiji Islands perhaps. But no, running away would mean abandoning my family to their fates and that was something I know I couldn't really conscience.

Four days passed; four endless, incessant, indeterminably long days where each hour seemed longer and more drawn out than the one before. Four days in which we nearly went crazy from the tension and torture of knowing what was coming but not knowing when. Four days that had a terrible effect on us all – The usually cheery Cullen clan became foul tempered and impatient, even the usually sanguine Emmett was snappish and moody. Edward and I had the first 'domestic' of our brief marriage over nothing, a sweater that wasn't where it was supposed to be. I think Charlie thought all his fears for our teen-age union were about to be realised. Four long days and then finally, Alice gave us the word that it was time to move.

It was weird, all that waiting and still I didn't know if I was relieved or upset. A small persistent thread of hope had insisted that all this would come to nothing, that the Volturi would change their minds or that Alice was completely wrong about everything…but that was just plain crazy, as my husband once observed, it would be extremely foolish to bet against Alice.

We convened at the Cullen's house. A message had been sent to La Push and the pack arrived soon after Edward and me. Jasper went over the plan again. The atmosphere was something like a war-room; tense and anxious but there was a palpable sense of determination. We knew what we had to do. There was no turning back now. Alice told us exactly where to go and then with no more preamble than that we all departed in, admittedly, a not very subtle convoy of luxury cars.

The journey took about two hours. Being creatures fond of comfort, the Volturi and their entourage had holed up in an exclusive boutique hotel hidden away in the heavily forested hills that the Pacific Northwest specialised in. As we got closer to our goal, one by one each car dropped out of the procession to discretely park in a different place, a deserted fire trail, an unoccupied picnic ground or similar. This was to disguise the fact that we were acting as a group; they would continue the remainder of the journey on foot. It was only Edward's Porsche that parked in the designated car park near the Hotel and even though we were the ones to park in the closest proximity to our destination we were still the last to arrive.

The sun had just disappeared below the horizon as we assembled together at the edge of a small clearing, the Cullen's, the Wolves and us, two humans who seemed totally out of place in this supernatural gathering. Few words were exchanged. Carlisle nodded towards the heavily wooded forest and without words Esme took off with unseeable speed and the wolves padded off behind her to take cover in the undergrowth. Once they'd gone Edward kissed me briefly then went with Alice and Carlisle to hide in the thicket of trees closest to the hotel. I think they were trying to 'tap into' the thoughts and decisions of the Volturi and their entourage so that we could better anticipate their movements. Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper disappeared into the shadows and I was left alone.

It was time for me to debut in my starring role in the plan. It was quite simple really. All I had to do was stand by myself in the middle of the clearing and somehow make my heart beat with an alluring rapidity that was designed to attract the attention of a group of vampires hungry after a long journey from Europe. Turns out, not such a hard ask actually; utter terror was quite effective motivation to get my heart rate revving at an attention grabbing allegro pace.

The minutes ticked by. Each second seemed like an eternity and I was beginning to have trouble keeping my fears under any kind of control. I was shaking and panic was beginning to get the better of me and I was desperately trying not to let hysteria be my undoing. I was alone, isolated and very, very afraid. But I wasn't alone, not really. Edward was a matter of feet away. I just had to focus on that.

"Well, well, well; what do we have here?" A smooth silky voice asked the question and I spun around to find myself looking into the beautiful face of Heidi, the Volturi's resident hunter. I hadn't even heard her approach. Thinking of Edward had obviously proved a very effective distraction. Or she was a very good hunter. Heidi looked smug and self-satisfied. She was practically smacking her lips at the thought of taking me back to her masters, like a cat does with a helpless mouse. It raised my ire.

"So, what's a nice little girl like you doing out here, all alone in the big bad woods?" Heidi asked with a teasing tone.

"Baiting a trap actually" I replied with smooth defiance

Suddenly, with speed faster than the eye could see, the wolf-pack emerged from their hiding spot and had Heidi surrounded. I saw the beginnings of a frown of confusion just beginning to form on her perfect brow before she was completely engulfed by a furry russet haze. She didn't stand a chance. With silent efficiency the pack dragged her deeper into the forest to take care of objective number one.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Edward and Carlisle came out to me. "Well done Bella," Carlisle whispered as Edward gripped my waist and started to steer me towards the dark safety of the forest. We crouched silently, hidden in the undergrowth. So many questions were flashing through my mind but I didn't ask any of them. I knew that Alice and Edward were concentrating on the Volturi camp; Alice on events to come, Edward on what was going through their minds at this very moment. He would let us know when it was something of imminent importance. And so we waited in silence.

An hour, maybe two had passed when finally Edward murmured quietly, "They're wondering where she is. One of them is coming to investigate." I knew that, ideally, we wanted either Jane or Alec to put in an appearance but obviously I knew we'd take whichever we were given. Carlisle made a noise that sounded exactly like an Owl's call, I saw a vague blur of movement and realised that the others had moved into their attack positions. I covered my face with my hands feeling sick and apprehensive all at the same time.

"It's Renata," Edward whispered into my ear. "They don't suspect anything sinister about Heidi's absence, not if they'd let Renata leave Aro's side. This is good, almost as good as one of the twins." The note of hope in Edward's voice made me look up. I saw Renata come out into the clearance. She suspected nothing. Her body language was casual and nonchalant. She even called out Heidi's name a couple of times. "She thinks Heidi is eating without them, and not for the first time," Edward whispered softly to me. I was glad for the information but I wished that he wouldn't talk; I didn't want Renata and her supersonic vampire hearing catching the whisper of his words. But I needn't have worried about that. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity and I knew that the Cullen's had made their move. Four against one, it really wasn't a fair fight. Well, to be accurate, it really wasn't a fight either. Renata was ripped to pieces before she'd even had a chance to protest. Once it was done Emmett, Jasper, Carlisle and Rosalie disappeared into the forest carrying the vampire remains with them. They were taking them somewhere miles away, to where Esme was waiting with a fire ready and hungry for another load of fuel.

"Come on," Edward urged once they'd disappeared from view, "We've got to get out of here!" Edward held my hand tightly and pulled me up from my hiding spot. Without letting go we rushed as fast as our pathetic human speed could carry us towards our waiting car. Alice, of course, was already waiting for us when we eventually got there. No words were exchanged as we hurried to slip inside the waiting Porsche, chosen specifically because of it whisper-quiet engine and ability to reach criminally dangerous speeds. Edward drove and for once I didn't look at the speedometer. I didn't want to know how fast we were travelling, I didn't really care, I just wanted us to get home safely and do it before the remaining Volturi got curious about the whereabouts of two of their most valuable members.

We made it home in record time. We dropped Alice off, only referring to what we'd just been part of when Edward asked "Is it enough?"

Alice gave him a weak smile and admitted that she didn't really know. "I'm mentally exhausted. I can't focus on what's to come with the Volturi; all I'm getting is the results of tomorrow's horse races in Seattle. I need to rest, maybe drink something. I'm sure I'll have news sometime tomorrow."

We drove home to Charlie's place at a much more sedate pace. It was late so we let ourselves in as quietly as we could then crept through the darkened house up to our little room. Once in our pyjamas we climbed into bed and under the quilt as if it had some miraculous power to keep us safe from the Volturi's probable retribution. It was weird, because, against all reason, I did feel safe and secure with Edward holding me tightly; us cocooned beneath the warmth of the blankets, together and, even though I had expected to spend the remainder of the night awake thinking terrible thoughts I actually drifted off into a not completely unsatisfactory sleep.

The next morning we had intended to go straight to the Cullen's to find out the latest developments in the Volturi camp but Charlie asked Edward to help him remove an old tree stump from the backyard, and, as Charlie very rarely made this kind of request, Edward could only oblige. The job took much longer than expected and precipitated much frustration and foul language from both men. Edward missed his vampire strength at time like these. I think it made him use particular words that you wouldn't usually hear pass his gentlemanly lips. Frustration can be like that. If we didn't have the imminent arrival of the Volturi hanging over our heads and weighing heavily on my mind I would have found their joint effort to rid the garden of a very stubborn lump of wood down-right hilarious. But we did and even amid the laughter it generated, I couldn't forget.

Eventually we did get to the Cullen's only to discover that there was no news. All Alice could see was confusion and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing. The mood of the family was very subdued, and that was without any mood manipulation from Jasper. We were all fully aware that even with the removal of two of the guards the odds were still heavily weighted in the Volturi's favour. They still had Jane and Alec, not to mention the powerful Aro himself who, if he managed to touch any one of us (apart from me) would know everything about our plot to overcome them and none of us were under any illusion that they would take our actions as anything other than a declaration of war. And did I mention that they had Jane and Alec?

The waiting went on for another two days. Edward and I tried to get on with our usual day to day lives, tried to get absorbed with normal, everyday stuff but it was no good; we jumped whenever the phone rang and couldn't concentrate on anything to the point where Charlie was getting seriously annoyed at having to repeat questions numerous times before getting a response and having no better success with simple enquiries about our day or his attempts to initiate conversation over dinner. I didn't even try to explain – what could I possibly say?

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Bella," Edward suggested later that night as we lay awake in bed discussing the Volturi situation yet again.

"But he has noticed our, uh-, distracted behaviour. Maybe I should try to give him some sort of explanation before he starts asking questions…"

"He's too scared to ask questions."

I looked at Edward, a frown of inquisition knotted on my brow. I saw that Edward was smiling, smirking even. My expression changed to fear.

"Okay, you have to tell me now, why is my father too scared to ask what the problem is? What is he thinking?"

"He thinks that we are preoccupied because we're worried that you might be pregnant."

"What?" I was horrified that my father would be thinking such a thing. Just because I'd gotten married at what even I considered to be a ridiculously young age it didn't mean I was ready for motherhood yet! One day sure, once we'd finished college, maybe travelled a bit, not for years!

"Don't worry about it," Edward said pulling me close into the circle of his arms. "Let your dad think what he thinks. What harm can it do? This will all be over soon and it won't even matter."

"One way or the other," I mumbled into Edward's shoulder thinking that it would be better for Dad to deal with me being pregnant than dead.

Ironically, when we did finally receive a phone call from Carlisle telling us that Alice had foreseen the Volturi arriving in a matter of hours it came as something of a relief. Edward and I were beyond waiting and completely sick of fearing the unknown. The thought of them killing us wasn't even so terrifying anymore. A sense of inevitability had claimed me. The only thing I felt bad about was that Charlie and Renee would spend the rest of their lives not knowing what had happened to me. I had asked for this. I had willingly flung myself into the Cullen's world but my parents had not. It was not fair on them and I hated that I would be the cause of such infinite pain. I tried to write a letter to them, to thank them for everything they'd done for me and to somehow explain my death but the words wouldn't come out without sounding like I'd somehow planned to die, like this was a suicide note. I didn't want to die. Dying was the last thing I wanted to do. I screwed up the letter and crammed it in my pocket. Perhaps I'd get a chance to burn it later?


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen – Visitors

We gathered at the Cullen's house. Nobody said much, apart from Carlisle. He gave us some cursory suggestions of how to act and what to say but it was not a definitive plan of attack. Alice was still having difficulty seeing a precise outcome because, as she'd said before, there was a variable in play that she couldn't get clear sight of. But she was hopeful; she didn't see our blood shed as the certain ending anymore, though we weren't sure if this was a good thing due to the fact that she couldn't see any ending at all.

We were going onto this blind, without the benefit of foresight just like any other normal person would have to. It was a new sensation for the Cullen's. Suddenly we were all very appreciative of Alice and the benefits that her gifts bought. I'm sure I was not the only one who felt regretful for taking them for granted in the past.

"It's not ideal that we face the Volturi without knowing the possible outcomes," Carlisle conceded, "We are perhaps a little too accustomed to this advantage. It is imperative that we do not forget our other strengths, our unity and our belief in ourselves. We must endeavour to keep them talking without resorting to conflict as long as possible." He paused for a moment then added, "Oh, and remember don't allow Aro to touch you"

"The Wolf pack is here," Emmett observed from where he and Rosalie were keeping vigil by the window. "They've taken cover in the forest. Should I go and update them on the situation?"

"Thankyou Emmett," Carlisle assented, "Tell them to keep out of sight until after our visitors arrive. And thank them for their continued assistance. We are most grateful."

Emmett left swiftly and I was happy that the Cullen's were keeping the wolves in the loop and I was relieved that the pack were standing by our side in this; I'd seen what they could do to a vampire and it gave me a feeling of security to know that they were lurking in the shadows waiting to come to our aid at a moments notice.

"They're here" Rosalie announced a little while later. She hadn't moved from her window-side vantage point that overlooked the driveway in over an hour. Emmett didn't have her patience. He'd returned from briefing the wolves only to begin pacing up and down the room with a repetitiveness that eventually caused Esme to a politely ask him to take it into the hallway. Even in the midst of such tension Emmett had managed to grin appreciatively, kiss his mother on the cheek and considerately take his pacing to the other room. Rosalie's words caused him to return to us in an instant.

"How many are there?" I asked for no particular reason other than to say something.

"Not sure," Rosalie replied, "They are still in the car. It's a black limousine if anyone is interested."

Nope. No one really cared in the slightest about the Volturi's preferred mode of transport but I did appreciate Rosalie's attempt to divert our attention even momentarily.

"They'll be here in a moment. I suggest we take our places," Carlisle said as he took a seat at the head of the long dining table. Esme took a seat beside him and the rest of us filed in to stand behind them. Edward and I stood towards the back in a deliberate effort to reduce our visibility. There was no reason to draw undue attention to our human selves afterall.

The Volturi entered through the front door, left deliberately open so as to avoid any awkward and inconvenient gestures of greeting. And, as planned, when the visiting vampires and their entourage entered the room they were kept at a distance by the lengthy expanse of the table.

Aro and Caius led the group. Alec and Jane followed while the feeble Marcus came in last, supported by a guard member I didn't recognise. I wondered why they bought him with them; he was like a wraith, transparent and diminished. Surely he was nothing but a liability, not that I minded – from the Cullen perspective one weak vampire was better than a full-strength one any day. But the symbolism of the triumvirate must be more important than reality because Marcus took his place centre stage along with his brethren despite his physical frailty. They were here to make a show of power and dominance; in their own minds having all three of them present strengthened their aura.

"Carlisle, old friend," Aro said with what could easily be mistake as affection. "And here I was hoping that our visit would come as a pleasant surprise! It seems we were expected."

"You forget, old friend, we have a certain advantage in that area," Carlisle responded, a friendly lilt in his tone.

"Ah, of course, your precious Alice! What a talent you have there." Aro spoke with a mixture of admiration and envy. We were all aware of how much the burgundy-eyed vampire coveted those with special abilities. He liked to populate his entourage with the gifted of his kind; they made him powerful, invincible even.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit," Carlisle asked casually

"You need to ask? I thought that you would already know," Aro remarked with what seemed like amusement as he looked directly at Alice, then to Edward. "Oh but of course, you're being polite. I do appreciate the gesture." Aro was not stupid. He hadn't remained in his exulted position of power for as long as he had because of his good looks.

"Shall we speak frankly?" Carlisle asked, an anxious note creeping into his voice.

"Frank, it shall have to be," Aro agreed serenely after giving his brethren a brief sideways glance.

Beside me, Edward was tense, I could feel the tension coming off him in waves and he held my hand so tight that the circulation was in danger of being cut off, but the powerful grip did distract me from my own sickening fears. But when I looked at him fearful is not how I would describe his expression. Instead he looked . . . perplexed. He frowned slightly as his narrowed eyes moved over the entire party of visitors. For a fraction of a second his eyes widened in shock and then he looked down to me and actually winked. What did he know that the rest of us didn't?

"We have come to see you're little pet Bella, of course. Though, hopefully she's less of a pet than an equal now. That was the agreement afterall." Aro smiled serenely for a moment then made a great show of 'looking' for me amongst the family group. "Is Bella here? I can't see her. It would be most tiresome if she was not with us, then I would have to send one of my guards to find her." Then, very regally, Aro sniffed the air. A cat-like smile spread onto his lips. Edward gripped my hand harder still and pulled me close to his body. "But of course she's here. Bella? Bell-ah, Bell-ah." He called my name in a sing song voice which made my skin crawl and my blood run cold. "Bella?" Aro took a step forward, It looked as though he was about to walk the length of the room in his determination to find me and that was the last thing we wanted! We needed to keep each and every one of those Volturi bastards exactly where they were. And the only way to do that was to be bold.

"I'm here!" I spoke the words as I broke free of Edwards grip and stepped around the hulking frame of Emmett in order to make myself visible. Thank god, my sudden appearance succeeded in stoping Aro in his tracks.

"There she is. Bella, how are you? You look exceedingly well."

I nodded mutely only managing a slight, forced smile in response to his effusive greeting.

"Bella, Bella, Bella. You disappoint me. You are still human. Your human bouquet is quite distinctive. It gives you away. How is it that you are not one of us Bella? Didn't we agree on our last meeting that you should be turned in order to protect the secrets of our world?"

I nodded silently.

"Can it be that you have changed your mind?"

I shook my head from side to side.

"Please explain then. Have we not given you enough time? I think that we have been most generous and patient with you Bella, with all of the Cullen quirks. Daily you know more of our world; the imperative for you to change becomes more urgent."

"I-I had to finish high school and . . . and sort out a few things so that my p-parents wouldn't worry once I, um- disappeared."

"Perhaps you_ have_ changed your mind? Perhaps you hoped that we'd forget about you, that we'd never come and check on your progress. I assure you, those that gamble with the Volturi invariably lose."

I didn't know how to answer him. Should I lie? That was always a risky proposition for me. I chose mute silence and downcast eyes as my safest option.

"Bella, I like you. I do. You intrigue me. Under normal circumstances I would not offer a second chance, but for you I will make an exception. I offer you this choice. You may choose death – quick and painless or you may choose to be changed into a vampire by myself. I don't make an offer like that lightly – it has been many years since I've created a child."

"Why?" I had to ask the question, I could see no reason that I should be the beneficiary of what was, in his mind at least, a great distinction.

Aro smiled again. "Why indeed Bella; In case you haven't noticed I am in need of a new shield, mine seems to have, ah, vanished since we arrived in your country." He looked pointedly at all of us as he alluded to the missing Renata. Oh, yeah, he certainly suspected us of that particular crime. "So you see Bella, I believe that I will find you most useful when you become one of us. Your talent for inhibiting the psychic force of others makes me think that you will make a most superior shield, once you get through that tiresome newborn phase of course. Naturally, in return for my good will towards you, you will be expected to come and join our ranks in Volterra. You will, in essence be my body guard. So what is it to be Bella? Death or immortality?"

I didn't even get a chance to answer.

"No!"

The vehemently expressed words caused all eyes to turn to their source.

"Bella is not becoming a vampire!" It sounded so final! And, while it may have been absolute truth, it was not what the Volturi needed to hear at this particular point in time. I looked at Edward with an expression that I knew portrayed panic and that I hoped conveyed the message for him to shut his mouth before he got us into any more trouble. Edward saw it. The rebellion in his features melted away only to be replaced by a slight frown but he did amend the tone of his argument. "You promised her time to make her plans and I think it is only fair that you honour your agreement. She won't be changed into a vampire on your schedule, or on mine. Only when she says the time has come will the change take place!" His lie was smooth and utterly believable.

"And what makes you say that we have not honoured the agreement?" Caius demanded a heated anger evident in his tone.

"A few months is all you gave her," Edward scoffed with derision.

"Quite a substantial period of time in the human world, or so I believe," Aro replied.

"You're wrong," Edward snarled through gritted teeth.

"Wrong? You are saying that we are wrong?" Aro said the words pleasantly enough but there was a disturbing glint of anger in his crimson eyes that clearly spelt danger. The all mighty Volturi were not accustomed to being told that they were wrong in any capacity. "Then I will add this to the bargaining table; Bella joins us. Today. Now. Or you all die. That is your choice."

I felt like I was about to pass out. This was my worst nightmare coming true – to be responsible for harm coming to the entire Cullen family, for Edward to suffer because of our love for one another! I couldn't allow that to happen. I would not allow this to happen!

"No!" This time it was me shouting. "No, don't hurt them. I'll do anything you ask."

"There, you see; reason prevails," Aro replied, a sly smile tainting his lips.

"No!" Edward shouted again. "I will not allow you to do this to Bella. She is not becoming a vampire and she is not going to live in Volterra with you!" He was furious, furious beyond reason or rationality. He was going to get killed because of me, which was ridiculous; I was not at all worth fighting with the Volturi over.

"Edward," I entreated him to calm down but at the same time Aro spoke just one word.

"Jane."

And before I had a chance to even realise what had happened Edward was held prisoner by the child-like vampire's malicious thoughts.

I screamed. Emmett had to hold on to me, preventing me from rushing at Jane to make her stop her cruel torture. Jane just smiled wider and intensified the persecution.

"Stop it! Stop it! Please," I begged as tears began streaming down my face. How much agony did this man have to endure for my sake? How much trauma did I have to be responsible for? Jane would kill him this time; he didn't have the staying power he's once possessed, and I couldn't live with that. I would rather it be me. Why wouldn't Jane's horrible power work on me? I struggled against Emmett's grip driven only by the need to make it stop regardless of the consequences.

My struggles attracted Aro's attention. "You and young Edward are a strange pair; prepared to endure all kinds of trials rather than see the other suffer and yet, it seems that you are strangely reluctant to embrace eternity together. I'm not sure I understand. Something seems to have changed since your visit to Volterra. I wonder what it could be." His query was met by silence. "Perhaps Alice will tell me?" Aro eyed Alice suggestively, then said with a purr, "I could find room for you in Volterra too Miss Cullen, a talent like yours is always welcome. Tell me the future and you can escape your death sentence."

I've never seen Alice look so scared. Never the less, she clamped her mouth shut and refused to speak, regardless of the danger her action invited.

"No, not talking Alice? What a shame." Aro shook his head in an exaggerated gesture of feigned sadness. It did not bode well for our prolonged good health. At that moment Jane broke her hold on Edward and let him fall to the floor. I dropped to my knees beside him and was relieved to find that he was still alive and happier still to see him manage a weak smile and to squeeze my hand reassuringly. It was a momentary reprieve I knew, but it was better than seeing him in pain. Aro was not so pleased to see his torture discontinued.

"Jane! I don't believe I asked you to stop."

"Forgive me Master. But I thought you should know – there is something different about him. The pain is extra delicious." She licked her lips. "It tastes like human pain." I'd never seen Jane look less child-like. Her scarlet eyes burnt with hunger and delight which robbed her of her innocent façade; she was showing her true colours now, cruel and demonic.

All our eyes snapped towards Jane now. She'd stumbled on our biggest secret, the one we'd been so desperate to keep hidden. There was no way the truth could be hidden now. Aro went to Jane and took her hand in his. Seconds later his face contracted into a harsh frown.

"How can this be?"

"How can what be?" Caius demanded with impatience.

Aro shook his head and looked towards his brothers, "It would appear that Mr. Edward Cullen is no longer a vampire."

"How can that be?" Marcus muttered to himself. "How can that be?"

"A fine question brother," Aro agreed, though his tone was quite patronising in tenor. All the Volturi eyes turned accusingly towards us.

Edward struggled to his feet. I tried to make it look like he wasn't leaning on me as much as he was; his breathing was heavy and the attack had left him shaken. The Volturi would relish any sign of weakness. Jane might only make you think you were in pain but still, it was taking his body a little while to realise it

"It is true. I am no longer a vampire."

"How did this happen!?" Aro was not curious; he was outraged. Whatever it was that was so potent that it could reverse vampirism was obviously something to be feared and resented. "Answer me Cullen!"

Edward summoned all his strength and stood tall, only keeping hold of my hand because I was holding on for dear life.

"I recently met a man, a scientist, who had a cu-, ah, please excuse me, an antidote."

"And you willingly accepted it?" Now Aro really was affronted. "You see your exalted state as a disease, an affliction that requires a cure? How easily you give up your gifts and advantages for what – a human existence with a human girl? You would give up eternity for the blink of an eye? Love must be more powerful than I remember."

Nobody answered even though each and every Cullen could have enlightened him about the power of love as opposed to the love of power. And there was no way he could ever comprehend what was between Edward and me – for one, he viewed humans as nothing but food. It would be like trying to explain to a human that you had fallen in passionate love with a rump roast.

"So now, instead of one human who knows about our world, we have two. And Edward, you must appreciate that your knowledge is all the more dangerous because it is experiential in nature. You cannot be allowed to exist as things stand." Aro paused momentarily then said resolutely, "Let me revise my earlier offer to now include Edward, afterall, gifts such as Edward's are too valuable to lose. I promise you, you will both be very happy in Volterra, serving the brethren safe in the knowledge that the rest of the family is safe and well. You have that in your power."

Edward opened his mouth to speak but Carlisle pre-empted him. "Aro, isn't there another way? Bella and Edward have a human life ahead of them. Shouldn't they be allowed to pursue that in peace? They are no danger to our existence. Who would they tell about the world of vampires? What would they have to gain by betraying us? They can be trusted with the secret."

"No exception!" Caius exploded with the rage of a volcano. "The Volturi does not make exceptions for anyone! Join us or die – that is the choice. Carlisle, you show remarkable arrogance, asking us to overlook this violation of the law. I've had enough of the insubordination of this family! You flout our rules, your lifestyle is an abomination of our ways and your clan is developing a disturbingly inflated belief in their own importance. You think your ways make you superior to others of our kind but you are not. You are no more special than any other vampire. You will get no special treatment. You will not wrest power from us. Learn subordination or die."

"We do not want your power," Carlisle entreated, "We just want to live our lives in peace."

"You make me laugh Carlisle," Caius scoffed, "Your efforts to become supreme in our world are transparent! You had the audacity, the arrogance, to deal with the recent newborn problem yourselves. You forge an alliance with dogs. Don't even try to deny it; there have been whispers of that for years. Your numbers continue to swell and you have, in essence, set yourselves up in opposition to us as protectors of the law. You seek to usurp our position. Do you think we don't know that you are the ones behind the disappearance of Heidi and Renata? For that alone you should all die, and yet we negotiate with you. You should be more grateful."

"Caius does raise some excellent points," Aro said with a sage nod of his head. "He reminds me that such generous considerations are not part of the code of Volterra. I am being too lenient on your family because of the bonds of long-standing friendship. Perhaps the time has come to acknowledge the ill-feeling that your family directs towards their superiors. I have been too soft with you Carlisle; we cannot tolerate defiance to our rule. It is not good for no one."

Yeah, especially the Volturi, I thought ruefully.

"Of course, it will be a shame to lose our young friends and their enviable talents, but alas, these trials must be born for the greater good. Carlisle, believe me when I say that I hoped to avoid this but, I'm sorry, you must accept that actions have consequences. I was wrong to offer a choice when death is the only just outcome possible."

Our death warrant was signed and any moment now they would dispense their 'justice'. The Cullen's would go down fighting of course but there was literally no hope of escape. And yet, that was exactly my instinct – to run, to flee, to try and survive despite the insurmountable odds and certain death. I looked around me, felt a wash of shame as I realised how ready I was to abandon my new parents and siblings. But they had certain advantages that Edward and I didn't have; they could fight for their lives. Edward and I had no strength, no speed and human lives that could be extinguished as easily as smothering the pathetic flame of a candle. Yeah, my instincts were shouting 'run!' I tried to hold my ground but when I saw Aro nod to Jane, against my own volition I felt my body strain in the direction of the exit. But I was stopped in my tracks by the sensation of Edward grabbing my hand and squeezing it with significance. I looked towards him only to have him wink at me again. He was actually winking at a time like this? My expression must have shown my complete disbelief because he gave me a ghost of a smile and murmured "wait' in a low tone.

Suddenly there was a commotion at the Volturi end of the room. Jane had unexpectedly fallen to the floor. I couldn't see exactly what was happening over the expanse of the table, but I could see that Aro was in shock and completely confused by this strange and unexpected turn of events. Protected by Edward and Emmett and thus unobserved, I was able to crouch down and look under the table to the other end of the room where all the action was happening. Jane lay there, unmoving, almost like she was… well, dead. As I watched, her body suddenly started to shake with increasing violence. It was ghastly. What on earth could be causing this?

"My apologies sister," Alec remarked with a casual nonchalance that was both shocking and intriguing. "But it was always going to come to this, eventually."

Alec looked at Jane pointedly for a moment, a slight crease forming on his boyish brow and then, just a moment later, Jane crumbled into thousands of little pieces.

Alec turned his gaze on our end of the room. We all froze with fear. Which of us would be on the receiving end of Alec's unbelievable ability? And, why had he killed his sister? To our collective surprise, he spoke directly to Esme.

"Mrs Cullen, I am sincerely sorry for the mess I've made. Perhaps you could make a fire so that we can dispose of the residue?"

Esme, obeyed his, well, it wasn't really a command, was it? No, it was more of a polite suggestion. Either way, Esme obeyed him wordlessly.

So that was Alec's special power. No wonder he'd had that certain aura of menace about him; I mean, he could freaking kill somebody just by looking at them! I snuck a glance at Edward. I wished I could ask him what was going on. But his face betrayed nothing more than a vague interest in the latest developments. But at least Aro seemed to have forgotten about us for the moment.

"Alec! How dare you! What is the meaning of this act of treachery?"

But in reply he got no answer, only found himself paralysed by the force of Alec's mind.

"Liam, do something!" Caius demanded of the unknown guard, but Liam didn't move to assist.

"Liam, I will not tolerate your disobedience! Take Alec down! Now!" Caius roared with terrifying ferociously. But instead of following the directive William walked over to Caius and with absolutely no forewarning, simply restrained the older vampire in a vice-like grip. That was obviously why they kept good old Liam on staff, his strength was incredible – a very handy trait to have in a body guard. Caius tried to struggle against his seizure but to no avail.

I think it is fair to say that we were all stunned when Marcus, who until this point had said practically nothing, spoke with an assertive quality that I wouldn't have thought possible.

"Sorry brothers but the time has come for a changing of the guard,"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen – A Dish Served Cold

"Aro, Caius; your time is through. I have waited century upon century for this moment and it has finally arrived! The stars aligned and I am finally able to make my move. The assassination of Renata, for which I believe I have the Cullen family to thank, the fact that Alec is an ambitious young vampire have worked in my favour and finally gifted me the opportunity to take the action I have so long desired. Revenge is mine – at last." He paused momentarily looking at his captured allies then said with carefully restrained passion, "For Didyme."

Instantly Aro started to shake and shudder frantically in exactly the same way that Jane had. Alec allowed the convulsions to go on longer than he had his sister. He was enjoying the moment; you could see it on his face. Aro was terrified. His expression showed that he knew exactly what fate was about to befall him. He was right to be scared; a minute later he exploded into a cloud of dust and rocky fragments.

Caius, knowing that he was next, made a desperate bid for freedom. He rebelled against Liam's stranglehold and somehow managed to break away and run from the house with astounding vampire speed. He was literally there one second and gone the next. We didn't worry though, mere moments later a piercing scream filled the air followed by the ferocious, yet satisfied, growls of about a dozen werewolves. The pack, ready, waiting and eager, had obviously made short work of Caius.

Marcus knew exactly what the hubbub meant. "Ah, it would seem that your allies have saved me from a tiresome pursuit. Thank them for it, and be sure that they appreciate the worth of their kill. Ironic, isn't it? Caius hated werewolves."

Esme had a large fire burning now and Rosalie and Emmett began helping her shovel vampire remnants into the dancing embers. It was not prudent to leave them lying around for too long.

"Carlisle; I assure you that your family will be left in peace from now onwards. The bond between you all is quite remarkable. I almost envy you. And Edward, you and your wife are free to live your lives. Please return the reprieve you've been given by respecting the secrecy of our world. Any growth in rumours, any whispers emanating from the human world and we shall know where to look."

"You have my word Marcus," was all Edward said as he shook the elder vampire's hand.

"And now, friends, we will take our leave. We've bothered you too long and I believe some house-keeping awaits me in Volterra. They will, in time adjust to the new regime. Alec can be very persuasive." Was I mistaken, or did I really just see a twinkle in his burgundy eyes? "I would thankyou again for your unwitting assistance in my plans but, as you have all benefited equally, it would seem a tad redundant."

We watched Marcus and his reduced entourage leave. None of us said anything as they made their unusually slow departure; we didn't want to jinx anything, cause them to change their minds and it wasn't until we heard their limousine leave the driveway that we allowed ourselves to believe that we really had escaped death. Once the sound of the engine finally faded into nothing Emmett let out a whoop of triumph and caught Rosalie in a celebratory embrace. Esme's sat down on a dining chair, hand over her mouth and a stunned expression on her face. Carlisle placed a loving hand on her shoulder and looked no less surprised by the fortunate turn of events. Alice and Jasper clung to one another in sheer relief. Edward and I looked at one another and inexplicably began to laugh. We were still laughing when Edward stepped towards me and found my mouth with his.

A little while later we were all out at the wolf pack's bonfire, built to dispose of the remains of Caius. There was a palpable feeling of unity between wolf, vampire and human. It was everything I'd ever hoped for. And all it took was mutiny in the ranks of the Volturi to achieve it. Easy. I suddenly remembered the note in my pocket; the one in which I'd tried and failed to say an adequate good-bye to my parents. I quickly pulled it from my pocket and without perusing the contents I threw it onto the fire and watched it ignite and turn to ash with merciful speed. Thank goodness I wouldn't be needing that anytime soon!

"So, what exactly happened in there?" Rosalie asked with a puzzled expression on her face. "I'm still not sure I get it."

"I second that," Jasper agreed.

"Who is Didyme?" I asked, also wanting to know how we'd managed to escape certain death.

"Didyme was Marcus's wife who he loved her very much. She was also Aro's sister. But she wanted a simpler life than that in Volterrra, one in which Aro and Caius didn't have a constant, intrusive presence. Marcus loved her so much that agreed to give up his position and leave their ranks. Aro found out and killed Didyme rather than let him abscond and fracture the trinity. He thought that Marcus didn't know anything about it. Needless to say, he was wrong, and Marcus swore revenge even though it took centuries to get it," Edward explained.

"You got all that from Marcus?" Rosalie asked

"He was thinking about it all the while Aro was peacocking about what to do with us. Bella reminded him of Didyme. He found our story quite remarkable, that I had given up my vampirism for Bella and the support we had from all of you; well, it made him all the more determined to finally get his revenge on Aro."

"How did he know we were married?"

"He sensed it, almost as soon as they walked in the room.

"So this dude senses relationships? You bloodsu--, sorry, I mean, you vampires sure do have the weirdest abilities. Freaks," Jacob joked. Everyone laughed.

"Yeah, because turning into a wolf at will is so pedestrian," Jasper added.

"How come Miss Future-sight here didn't see it all coming?" Jacob asked still fixated on the failure of the vampire's special skills.

Alice was happy to explain, "Marcus must have been the variable that was clouding my visions. He had plans for a coup d'état but no opportunity. Our actions provided him with that opening but he was still unsure of when to act. He couldn't make a decision and so that stopped me seeing an outcome. By the time he did decide to act, I was too terrified to concentrate on seeing anything. But I do know that without Marcus' rebellion we would never have survived."

"I think that Edward knew that it wasn't all bad," I hastened to add. "He winked at me, quite early in the proceedings."

"I just heard Marcus' thoughts. I knew we had some hope."

Then Rosalie asked, "But what about Alec? Why did he suddenly turn on Jane?"

"Ambition, envy," Edward supplied. "For years he's been watching Jane grow powerful, watched her be petted and favoured by Aro and he grew jealous. Marcus, of course, sensed the tensions in their relationship and exploited it. They formed an alliance and patiently waited for their time to come."

"And Liam?" Esme asked, "He seemed so young. I almost felt sorry for him."

"Marcus has nurtured him since he was a newborn. As you saw, he's remarkably strong but not very old, only about my age," Edward clarified. "He was chosen because he worships the ground Marcus walks on. Marcus knows that with Alec he must always maintain caution, keep one eye open and always be watching his back, but Liam is loyal."

"At least for the moment," Alice interjected. "I'm afraid the Volturi will face an extended period of turmoil. The power balance and structure will change many times before the dust settles."

"Marcus?" Carlisle inquired.

"His reign of power will not be long. As he himself observed, Alec is ambitious, as is Liam actually. They have decades of power struggles ahead of them. But the good news is that once the in-fighting ceases and everything is settled, the new make-up of the Volturi will not even know the name of Cullen, much less care about us."

"And our disposing of Renata made all this possible," I observed with quiet awe.

"Yep, always knew it was a cracker of a plan. Jasper is a freaking genius," Emmett enthused. 'We really showed those Volturi bastards. Teach them to mess with a Cullen!'

"We couldn't have done it without our allies," Carlisle said as he looked towards the wolf pack, "Thankyou Sam."

"The honour was ours Carlisle," Sam replied as they shook hands.

"I propose a new treaty," Carlisle announced, 'I think the current one has run its course."

"Speaking for the pack, we are more than willing," Sam agreed.

"What kind of terms are we talking?" Jacob asked, suddenly looking every inch the pack Alpha.

"Mutual protection and cooperation," Carlisle suggested, and then added, "I'm not suggesting we have free reign over your lands or anything such as that, more that we formalise our respect for one another and acknowledge the fact that we can rely on each other in times of trial. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Sam confirmed.

A little while after that Sam then led a traditional indigenous ceremony that in essence, pronounced the Cullen's to be the symbolic brothers (and sisters) of the tribe. We became a family. Our celebrations lasted long into the night. The fire was kept stoked and we laughed and sang songs and reminisced about our shared experiences, most of which, somewhat embarrassingly, revolved around me. Thankfully, that topic was finally exhausted and the crowd fell into smaller groups and conversations. And that, for me, was the highlight of the whole night; seeing Cullen and Quileute getting to know one another as individuals. Emily and Esme talked quietly, Carlisle and Sam continued to build on their growing bond with one another. Jacob and Rosalie discussed mechanics (I _knew_ they would like each other if given half a chance). Emmett and Paul arm wrestled with friendly competitiveness all the while baiting the other about whose skills and strengths were more powerful. Seth was looking at Edward with worshipful eyes, hanging on his every word as he engaged a group of the younger pack members in conversation. Jasper and Leah were exchanging stories (come to think of it, they had a lot in common too) while Alice entertained Quil and Embry with made up predictions of their futures.

It was one it the best nights I'd ever had in Forks and I knew that somewhere, deep in the future, the events of today and the formation of the new treaty would be told to a new generations as legend.


	16. Chapter 16

Epilogue – The Happily Ever After

Forks welcomed us home with a rain drenched embrace. It was kind of sweet actually, grey clouds, slushy puddles and arctic-level temperatures. It felt exactly like home. We'd swung by Charlie's place first, just to let him know we'd arrived safely. Charlie was thrilled to see us, even Edward. He made us coffee and filled us in on all the latest local news, otherwise know as gossip. One thing is for sure, cops hear plenty of good stories. He seemed happy and well. It would be good to be close to him again. We didn't stay too long; the removal truck from New Hampshire with all our belongings was due to meet us at our new place – no, we were not going to resume living with my Dad.

Edward opened the front door, looked at me and murmured "Welcome home" before pulling me into a deeply satisfying embrace. He still had the power to render me mindless with the touch of his lips. Still lost, I stumbled slightly as he led me through the doorway. The jolt was enough to remind me of exactly where I was.

Home

"It looks a bit different, doesn't it," Edward observed as we went up the stairs.

"Well, yeah, what with all the art work gone and all," I agreed looking at the now bare walls.

"The dust covers don't help reduce the atmosphere of abandonment either," Edward added as we reached the lounge room.

"It does lack that certain hominess that we're accustomed to," I agreed as I began pulling the heavy dust covers from the pieces of furniture that remained in the room. Edward pulled the cover off the grand piano, opened the lid and began to tickle the keys at random. The resulting tune was sad and lonely sounding. It probably didn't help that the instrument was in sever need of a tune. I went and wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed the place on his back that my mouth reached then said, "This place sure is empty without them."

He stopped playing and turned to enfold me in his arms, "Yeah. It is," he murmured into the top of my head. "I knew that they wouldn't be here, of course I did, but. . ."

"When you think about them, you always imagine them here?"

"Exactly; coming home, it suddenly makes the fact that they don't live in Forks anymore all the more real."

The truth was the Cullen's hadn't lived here for almost as long as we'd been away from the town. Six years ago, as we'd left for college, the Cullen's had begun their exodus from Forks. They had been there too long as it was, and, they'd only pushed the limits of the length of time they could stay in any one place because of me and Edward. Rosalie and Emmett had already supposedly left for college, Alice and Jasper naturally announced that they too would be going away to school. Carlisle, 'out of the blue' received an attractive job offer from a 'southern hospital', and with nothing to keep them in town, they decide to take the offered opportunity. In reality, the family had gone to Scotland, remote, cold and when it wasn't raining it was snowing. Perfect. Carlisle worked as a General Practitioner, winning the local population's gratitude for being willing to work in such an isolated local when no one else would and their respect with his ability to get to them through sleet, wind or snow. Carlisle was universally loved for his dedication, devotion and care and the local population had been very sorry to lose him when the time came. Six years had passed and, as necessitated by the Cullen's chosen lifestyle, they had recently had to move on from the Scottish highlands. Now they were in Canada, closer to Forks sure, but still a long way away.

Moving to College and Edward becoming human had wrought changes in our relationship with the Cullen family. We didn't see them often – for most of the time they'd lived on a different continent afterall. We talked on the phone and exchanged e-mails of course, but even that became less frequent as time slipped by. A daily call turned to weekly to fortnightly, e-mails were sent only when we had news or questions. It wasn't that we didn't love them – we did, we do. But... they are relatives who live a great distance away and we have lives to live; study, friends, settling into our adult responsibilities and new commitments. It sounds lame, I know, but that's just the way life is. The affection and bonds between us will always be iron clad, but we have our lives in the human world and they had theirs, navigating that hazy corridor between vampire and human existences.

We heard the rumble of a large truck approaching the house. A horn blared to announce its arrival. Edward went out to meet our removalists and show them where to stack everything. I sat in silence for a few minutes, and then decided to take a prowl through the house. The Kitchen was pristine – never been used pristine, though there was a thin film of dust over the bench tops. Carlisle's study didn't look like Carlisle's study anymore; the paintings were gone, the bookshelves were empty and all that remained of his desk were four divots in the carpet pile. It was just a room now. The whole house was like that. It didn't feel quite right. Something was missing. I found myself in Edward's room. At least this felt familiar. The bed he'd bought me all those years ago still dominated the space, his sketches and photographs still hung on the walls. I was sitting on the bed, absently running my hand over one of the wrought iron roses when Edward found me.

"So you want this to be our room?"

"I suppose so. . . It was always your room, I mean the bed is here and all."

"Esme and Carlisle's room is larger, if you'd prefer more space."

'I don't think space is a problem. I like this room."

"Yeah, me to, that's why I chose it when we first moved in."

"Our stuff, did it arrive alright? Is everything still in one piece?"

"Seems to be; we've got a garage full of boxes and furniture though."

"I don't even want to think about unpacking it all." I couldn't help but groan at the thought. I was feeling so tired and travel weary from our long drive from New Hampshire; unpacking was the last thing I wanted to think about.

Edward smiled tenderly. "There's no hurry. We can unpack as we need things. We'll get Charlie round to help at the week-end. I'm sure he'd love to help."

"Or perhaps some strong wolf-type boys," I added with a grin.

"It would be good to see them," Edward agreed. His desire to see our Quileute friends was genuine.

Of course I'd kept in touch with Jacob. I called him every few weeks to see how he was because he was not a reliable e-mail correspondent. He'd keep me updated with all the pack news, not that there was pack news as such anymore. Once the Cullen's left Forks the imperative to phase into wolf-form had faded. Sam and Jacob as well as a couple of the more experienced pack members could still change, if they had to, if danger was imminent, but the younger ones seemed to have lost the ability to change at all. No one knew if this was due to the Cullen's departure or the foundation of the new treaty. It would be another eighty years or so before anyone knew the truth of it and if future generations of Quileute youths would still develop the ability to change into wolf-form; Not until the Cullen's returned to Forks one day far in the future. Jacob was still a good friend and seeing him regularly was one of the major benefits of moving home again. He was of course, a mechanic now. He worked at a garage between the reservation and Forks and was really good at his work. Naturally. Oh, and he was very popular with the local ladies too. Is it any wonder? A guy with a body like his is never going to want for female attention! Once he'd gotten over me and accepted that I was unattainable, his eyes had been opened and he's discovered a whole new world of admiring female appreciation all with their eyes firmly on him. He was still young and making the most of his youthful assets, if you get my drift. One day he'd meet someone special but for the moment that didn't matter, he was nowhere near ready to settle down.

We'd thought long and hard about moving back to Forks when the opportunity arose. Living in this town would make seeing the Cullen's even less likely that it would have if we'd chosen to live somewhere else. The Cullen's were known here, if they came to town, were inadvertently see by someone then it would be blatantly obvious that there was something odd about them. We accepted that when we made the decision to come here. The Cullen's couldn't really return to Forks until a generation had passed, until everyone who might recognise them was dead, including Edward and I. That was part of maintaining the secret of the world of vampires. I would be damned if I would ever be the cause of betraying their existence to the wider world – I had nearly caused their deaths for just knowing about them before and I certainly didn't want to get them into trouble again.

While we'd been in Dartmouth the separation, the distance, hadn't seemed so obvious, but now, with them being so kind as to give us the use of their house in Forks for our lifetime, the loss of their continual presence became suddenly stark and painful. But as Carlisle had told us years before, our place was with the humans now. Sure the Cullen's maintained their strange hybrid life of human and vampire, but it only worked properly if there were no humans in the inner sanctum, if they were free to move regularly to begin again. Besides, Edward and I had Human lives that weren't often conducive with running off to remote, cloudy and often snow-bound locations at the drop of a hat; Study, employment and other similar but no less mundane commitments tend to get in the way. The main reason we'd chosen to move back to Forks was Charlie. Yes, he had lots of friends here but it wasn't the same as family. He'd kill me if he knew I'd even considered it, but the fact was he wasn't getting any younger. I am his daughter. I have to be there for him. He's got no one else.

"How was work?"

Edward asked the question then leant down to kiss me hello. I gripped the lapels of his coat and kissed him deeply.

"That is quite a welcome!"

"I've had quite a day…"

"Bad?"

I grimaced, "Well, my freshman English isn't getting any better behaved!"

A month had passed since we'd arrived home. Edward loved his work at the hospital. He was a resident but his superiors were rapidly discovering that he was a quick and eager learner, besides having an excellent rapport with the patients. They were also impressed with his uncanny ability to diagnose accurately from even the vaguest description of symptoms. Of course, they weren't to know of the advantages in being able to read your patients minds to aid diagnosis. My new job was more of a mixed bag. Once Edward had been successful in getting a job in Forks, I had sent my resume to the high school inquiring about work. I was relieved when they agreed to interview me and even more so when they subsequently offered me a teaching job. Being a newbie on staff, I had a full teaching load, minimal spares and it seemed like I'd been given a selection of the more challenging classes in the school, some of which I felt I was making progress with, some I knew I wasn't. But that is the lot of a teacher.

'There's a letter from Esme," Edward said, holding up a large white envelope as I walked into the kitchen. "Actually, they've all written a little bit – even Emmett."

"That's unusual, what's the occasion?" I asked as I took the letter from Edwards hand.

"I think it's just to let us know that they've settled in Canada safe and well."

I read the letter, drinking in all the details of the Cullen's and their new situation, Esme's excitement about setting up and decorating a brand new house, built to her specifications, Carlisle's new medical practice, Emmett's new hobby of using a motorised snow vehicle while hunting, to give the local caribou a sporting chance (apparently), Rosalie's frustrations with having to return to school, frustrations that were shared by Jasper too and Alice's profuse lamentations of how much she missed us. It was a nice letter. It made me feel closer to them.

"You've got to see this," Edward remarked and held a larger than usual photograph for me to look at. The picture was of the Cullen's. Esme and Carlisle stood together on the right, they looked the same as always, beautiful and handsome and smilingly happily. It was the others that were the real eye-opener. They looked so different, so young. Rosalie's hair wasn't styled to perfection – it was in two long pony-tails that sat just below each ear. She wasn't wearing figure hugging jeans or stiletto heels either. She was wearing sneakers and pastel tracksuit pants with a matching hoodie! Emmett wore jeans and a sweater, not so different from how he looked in Forks but somehow, he looked more youthful. With Jasper it was all about the hairstyle. The smooth side-part made him look incredibly young and a little bit geeky. Alice's hair was flat and natural too. She now had a heavy fringe and was wearing glasses. She wore a simple pinafore, dark tights and Mary-Jane flats. It was incredible.

"Oh my god, they look like kids!"

"I know," Edward agreed, "We got pretty good at making ourselves look younger than our faces would imply."

"This is what you'd do each time you moved somewhere new?"

Edward nodded. "Like I told you, the younger we were when we started in a new place, the longer we could stay."

"Alice looks like she's about thirteen!"

"Yeah, that would probably be right, meaning that Rosalie and Emmett would be saying that are fourteen."

"Emmett doesn't look like he's only fourteen."

"True, but he acts like it. He'd be right at home in that ratty freshman English class of yours."

"Oh." Suddenly I was glad it wasn't me who had to teach fourteen year-old Emmett Cullen.

I resolved to get a frame for the picture – of course, I'd have to put it where any visitors we may have would not see it, but it was precious to me. It was like having a little piece of the absent Cullen's here with us, all the time.

"Are you happy here?" Edward asked as we lay in bed later that night.

"I am." It was the truth. I felt like I belonged in Forks.

Edward was silent.

"Are you?"

"Of course I am," he replied. "My job is great…"

"But?"

"But nothing."

"Edward," I said his name in a way that showed that I knew he was not telling me everything. "Are _you_ happy in this house?"

He didn't reply. So I made an assumption, "You don't want to live here?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then?"

"I miss them."

"Me too."

"Seeing that picture, living in this empty house; it's all just conspiring to make me wish they were here. Stupid I know."

"It's not stupid. This is your parent's house. It does still feel strange to be here without them."

"Yeah, it does. Look, if you think this place is too big we can get something smaller, closer to town."

"Is that what you'd like to do?"

"Well, this place _is_ very large for just the two of us."

"Maybe we'll just have to do something about making it, ah, less empty."

"Do you mean we should ask your father to move in with us?"

I laughed at the expression on his face – it was not one of overt enthusiasm for the notion of Charlie living here too. "There is another way to fill a home," I suggested, still smiling.

"You mean . . . You mean starting a family of our own?"

I hoped that wasn't reluctance colouring in his voice. "Well it is the done thing. We've been married quite a while now."

"Are we ready? You've just started a new job and . . . well, we don't really know how my various transformations might have affected my ability to father a child."

"Always with the caution. . ." I teased.

"Bella, we must be realistic; my actual age, what my body went through – these things might impede our chances of conceiving."

"Well, I happen to know for a fact that you are worrying completely unnecessarily."

Edward rolled over so that he could see my face. "For a fact? You mean, you mean you're …"

He was not at all slow.

"Yeah, remember when I said I'd had quite a day. I saw my doctor and had it confirmed this afternoon."

"The stomach bug you picked up just after we arrived, it wasn't a stomach bug?"

"Nope, morning sickness; I've been feeling off colour for weeks but put it down to the stress of moving and starting work and all of that. I finally decided that I'd better see a doctor. The first thing she did was run a pregnancy test."

"When is it due?"

"At the beginning of the summer holidays, we couldn't have planned it better if we'd tried."

Suddenly I found myself caught in an enthusiastic embrace and my face being covered in kisses. I guessed he was happy with the news. He expressed a preference for, first a son and then a daughter then decided it really didn't matter what we had. We were having a baby! He suggested a couple of names (Lucia and Cuthbert) but they didn't meet with my approval, I suggested a couple (Finn and Rachel) which didn't meet with his. I began to call out random names, some I genuinely liked and others that I wouldn't consider in a million years and discovered that the big disadvantage with having a baby with someone who is over a hundred years old is that he had invariably met someone with that name who, for some reason, has caused him to be prejudiced against it. It was not going to be easy to find one we agreed on. I began to suggest increasingly ridiculous names, wacky celebrity names and bizarre hybrids of our family's names, things like Charlise, Jaspett, Alilie and worse. By the time I suggested Renesme we were in stitches, laughing so much I had tears streaming down my face. And I'd never been happier.

We had eight months to come up with a proper name. All that mattered was that we were having a baby and that Edward was as deliriously happy as I was. If I'd ever harboured secret fears that one day, as he aged, as his body grew tired, as he couldn't see his family, that he'd regret the decision to become human they were banished forever with his reaction to the news that I was having his child. This was the most human thing we could ever have done together.

"Rosalie once said that I had to let her hold our babies," I remarked when the laughter had subsided. "Do you think they'll come and see us once the baby is born?"

"Try keeping them away," Edward replied drawing me into the circle of his arms. "It'll probably be short and they'll have to keep hidden, but I'm sure we'll see them."

Good, I thought as I closed my eyes and found the perfect spot in the crook of Edwards arm. Life was good. I had the love of my life by my side and we were building a family together. And yes, we'd had to make some sacrifices to be here with one another; Edward had given up immortality and we couldn't have the Cullen's in our lives the way we would like but life moves on and things change. And that, as Edward so often told me, is how it should be.

The End :)


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